Baptists tend to be the “problem children” of the ecumenical movement but have gifts both to give and receive from the broader Christian community, a Baptist theologian who teaches in the school of divinity at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs,…
16 books I plan to read in 2016
By Barry Howard My love for reading was slow to develop. During my teenage years, I perceived reading to be a nuisance and necessary evil. At some point during my college years, however, I learned to enjoy reading, not just…
Toggling between abhorrence and appreciation
There are numerous variations of the song. The one most frequently bellowed in my house is, “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.” It is maddening. Not only are my children (and their friends) butchering a delightful Christmas tune,…
Listening to Richard Rohr
The pun is intended, but the man who is now a Franciscan priest, prolific author, and wise teacher was named Richard when he was born in Kansas in 1943, the first son of Richard and Eleanore Rohr. The way he…
The African-American roots of Bonhoeffer’s Christianity
By Alan Bean Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the only prominent Christian in Germany to grasp the hideous spiritual implications of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis from the outset. Martin Niemoller’s famous ”first they came for” litany sketched out a typical pattern…
The quotable Thomas Merton
My favorite definition of God is Thomas Merton’s: God is “mercy within mercy within mercy.” -Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB A special issue of ” Signs of the Times ” devoted to Thomas Merton (31 January 1915 – 10 December 1968)…
Balking at Hawking’s rejection of God
Although it was a temptation, I resisted titling this article “Gawking at Hawking.” June and I have, though, been ” gawking ” at Hawking some this past couple of weeks. We first watched “The Theory of Everything,” the engrossing 2014…
Religion and irreligion: Friends or foes?
Atheists, agnostics, and other people who profess no religious faith have often been criticized, ostracized, ridiculed, discriminated against, and belittled. Especially in recent years such people have begun to fight back. Some of that fight has been rather hostile towards…
Between the World and Me: A reflection
Over the weekend, I ventured out to Barnes & Noble in Atlanta to pick up a couple books. I bought March, a graphic novel that is a first-hand account of Congressman John Lewis’ life and struggle for civil rights. I…