By Benjamin Cole In late February, David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch co-authored a provocative op-ed in the New York Times, titled “A Reconciliation on Gay Marriage.” In the piece, Blankenhorn, the conservative president of the Institute for American Values, and…
Movie review: Knowing explores age-old theological conundrum
By Bob Allen Do our lives have a purpose, or are we products of random chance? If everything is predestined, is there anything we can do to improve our fate? If not, are we without hope? These questions are discussed…
Global Baptists issue pledges at peace conference
From The 2009 Global Peace Conference Gathering together from 59 different nations, representing many diverse communities throughout the world, more than 350 people came to Rome Feb. 9-14 to participate in the 2009 Global Baptist Peace Conference. We came together…
Why I am a heretic
By Miguel De La Torre Yes, I am a heretic — but then, I’m getting ahead of myself. As some of you might remember, I recently wrote what turned out to be the most controversial column in the history of…
The future of American Christianity
By David Gushee Trinity College’s American Religious Identification Survey was releasedMarch 9. Its headline finding, assummarized by USA Today: “Faith is shifting, drifting or vanishing outright.” The news that “almost all denominations are losing ground” is sobering indeed. It helps…
Leaving Alabama
By James Green Somerville I was born on March 14, 1959, in Selma, Alabama. My mother tells me I was the most difficult of all her babies to deliver, and that while she was waiting for me to make up…
Whither — or wither — conservatism?
By Benjamin Cole Last month, I joined more than 8,000 other conservatives from across the country for the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. Throughout its three-day program, disempowered and occasionally distraught conservatives plotted endlessly…
A Christian rationale for a truth commission
By David Gushee Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has begun hearings exploring the possibility of establishing a “Truth Commission” to investigate Bush policies in several areas related to national security. I want to comment here in favor of an inquiry on…
On interpreting the Bible
By R. Alan Culpeppe The story is told that when William Tyndale was a young man, a priest told him that it was better that the Bible was in Latin (a language only a few Englishmen could read) and that…