The broader church has not always loved popes named Leo. Pope Leo X in 1520 described Martin Luther as a “wild boar from the forest” destroying the church. Pope Leo XII asserted in 1824 that Bible societies “produce a gospel of men, or what…
A tale of two Leos
In a recent Atlantic article, David Brooks writes: “Many of us thought that the world would get more democratic as it modernized, but for the past quarter century, we have seen a reversion to authoritarian strongmen. Donald Trump, acting like…
Concerning heretics and those who burn them
Today marks the 508th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, marking the day in 1517 when Catholic priest and professor Martin Luther’s 95 Theses appeared on the Medieval scene in Wittenburg, Germany. The theses called the Roman Church to account for…
500 years ago, German peasants revolted – but their faith that the Protestant Reformation stood for freedom was dashed by Martin Luther and the nobility
Five hundred years ago, in the winter of 1524-1525, bands of peasants roamed the German countryside seeking recruits. It was the start of the German Peasants’ War, the largest uprising in Europe before the French Revolution. The peasants’ goal was…
‘Neither right nor safe’: The Gulf of Conscience
On April 18, 1521, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther stood before Charles V, king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, and his court comprised of representatives from the nations of Europe. Luther was required to respond to two questions:…
Antisemitism is rampant in America: Will churches be silent?
Antisemitism, one of the world’s earliest and most enduring conspiracy theories, is again rearing its ugly head. With origins in ancient Greece, antisemitism became a hallmark of Christian-Jewish relations across the centuries. It is with us yet. Writing in the…
How the evangelical church messed up and lost its way
The evangelical church in the United States is a mess. I’m not talking about reports of declining membership and lower baptism numbers. Those statistics merely provided warning signs that something was amiss, that things were going in the wrong direction….
‘This is the end of the world!’ (again): past lessons for a present crisis | #intimeslikethese
Online or as gathered community, through PayPal or the offering plate, when it is “sanctuary and when it isn’t, we cling to the gospel and the church, not as a hymn-singing non-profit, but as the Body of Christ.
Can Kanye help spark a radical, new Christian Reformation?
The Church needs a reformation from “empty,” mainstream expressions of Christian faith profiting from indulgences of cheap grace, miscarriages of justice and deception paraded as sound devotion remixed over gospel beats.
‘The saints have no extra credits’: Reformations then and now
Luther’s phrase, “The saints have no extra credits,” reminds us that the practice of selling indulgences didn’t end with the Reformation. Consider William Barr’s recent “religious liberty” speech at Notre Dame Law School.
How churches that don’t think they are anti-Semitic promote anti-Semitism
The church has not just been on the wrong side of history, but on the wrong side of Christianity. Anti-Semitism is by definition a repudiation of Christianity as well as of Judaism, and an enemy of pluralism and democracy.
Falwell and Luther: a theology of glory versus a theology of the cross
Jerry Falwell Jr. and other evangelical leaders espouse what Martin Luther called a “theology of glory.” Falwell has a lot of company. Christian history is full of examples of people finding God on their side when articulating their theology, even, and especially when, their theology concretely harms people.