Christians who advocate “biblical marriage” should acknowledge the traditional view of marriage is a recent development and only one of many biblical models, say some ethicists. The third in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
What’s love got to do with it?
Throughout most of Western history, including Western Christianity, the idea of love was typically not a factor in marital dreams or decisions. Love might grow within a marriage, but men and women married out of family duty. How did that change? The second in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
Marriage: The state of our unions
Love, marriage, sex and parenting comprise what many Christians believe is “traditional marriage,” unchanged since the Garden of Eden. Yet for most societies throughout history, including most Christian ones, the expectation that all four could be confined to one relationship was considered impractical, irrational or at best undesirable. The first in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
Taking on the gun madness: it’s time to stop it, say faith leaders
Christian clergy are tired, they say, of wringing their hands, of changing their Sunday morning sermon after another Saturday night shooting, of gun advocates’ clichés and — worse — of expecting it to happen again soon.
The missing gospel in Black Lives Matter
The summer of 2016 has been dubbed by some the Summer of Justice. As the presidential candidates held their conventions, unrest in America could no longer be contained. Demonstrations by grassroots chapters of the Black Lives Matter movement demanded justice…
Artist’s faith and art forged in turbulent times
Had things gone according to his father’s wishes, He Qi would be one of China’s leading mathematicians today. But history — and more specifically Mao Tse-tung and his Cultural Revolution — had other ideas. “I was a teenage boy and…
Embracing the journey
Almost by accident, Kerry Smith has become a popular artist — a sculptor, painter and woodcarver. But he hasn’t done it alone. His constant companion — and a most unwelcome one — is chronic pain. The former minister is now a ‘prisoner to pain,’ but art ‘transports’ him to a place of purpose.
At 25, CBF still building something new
At 25, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship recalls its birth in a passionate commitment to freedom. All stories must start somewhere. Baptist stories are no different — from the self-baptism of John Smyth in 1609 to Roger Williams planting the first…
The ‘groaning’ and ‘growing’ of theological education in America
When Daniel Aleshire, whose organization accredits most U.S. seminaries, retires next year, he’ll have witnessed a quarter century of what may have been the most dramatic changes in clergy education in the country’s history. Informed ministry is superior to ignorant…