How far can one go in retelling a Bible story, adding things that are not in the original? In The Testament of Mary, Colm Toibin goes a long way. NEW YORK — How far can one go in ...

Life is difficult. It can knock you down. Sometimes, an entire nation gets knocked down. Life is difficult. It can knock you down. Sometimes, an entire nation gets knocked down. ...

Julie Polter Whether you're preaching the Bible, teaching it, or reading it on your own, there are always new facets to be revealed. ...

Jung Pyo Hong Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture. Westminster John Knox DREAMS CA ...

Rose Marie Berger What will it take to push back climate change? A Spirit-driven 'power shift' might be a key. ...

Martin L. Smith Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle C HOW SHALL WE engage with scripture thro ...

Wesley Granberg-Michaelson It's time to reframe the church's conversation around same-sex relationships. ...

I watched with great delight as my sons, Luke and Jack, saw the first episode of “The Bible,” a History Channel special series that began this past Sunday and runs the five weeks through Easter. Film and telev ...

Reta Halteman Finger If we read 1 Peter's message to immigrants, exiles, and foreigners only as a metaphor, we risk missing the poin ...

"You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt." DURING THE SUMMER of 2003, 25 staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and their familie ...

What if I read Scripture looking for “salvation, freedom, and liberation” for my two daughters? To know that God created them in God’s own image. That they, like each one of us, will strive to construct meanin ...

President Obama will publicly take the oath of office on two Bibles once owned by his political heroes, Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. One Bible was well read, but cited cautiously, the ot ...

We realized the divide between rich and poor can be seen not by looking at house size, checkbooks, or retirement accounts, but by looking at a person’s smile. In  As I Lay Dy ...

The widow we encounter in Mark 12:38-44 provides a case study in poverty and oppression. Unable to confront poverty, we have turned her into something safer – an example of generosity. ...

“People who insist that the sacredness of Scripture depends on belief in creation in a literal six days seem never to insist on a literal reading of ‘to him who asks, give,’ or ‘sell what you have and give the ...

Debates on immigration in the United States continue to move in the default direction of North/South. As such, the prominent debating points often direct public attention to the U.S./Mexico border fence and t ...

Betsy Shirley What in heaven's name does "biblical womanhood" mean? Rachel Held Evans embarked on a yearlong journey to fi ...

In the video below, Eric Barreto, an assistant professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minn., explains how the story of David and Bathsheba relates to our modern-day struggle to end the oppression of women through sexual violence an ...

Maybe we haven't all heard the thunder clap yet, but the lightning bolt struck a while ago. We are going to have to adjust our reading of the Bible to coincide with a modern scientific understanding of th ...

Martin L. Smith Reflections on the Common Lectionary, Cycle B Listening to the scriptures requires a gentle d ...

Peace is better than war. Good of the whole is better than whims of a few. God wants everybody — red, yellow, black, brown and white taken care of. God wants true community, more togetherness … not more separa ...

Can those who don’t interpret scripture literally use the Bible as a bludgeon against others? Of course. But the inherent lack of room for discussion, critical thought, nuance or even alternate views within th ...

When I am faced with dishonesty and fraud on a systemic scale, I ask my questions of God. But I am continually directed back to humanity itself to find the origins of injustice. So what can we do to end injust ...

There was a movement back in the 1960s that many of us only have read about, while others vividly remember. Philosophers and theologians explored what was labeled the “Death of God” movement. Interest in the s ...

Eugene Peterson has written more than 30 books on theology and the life of faith in his 80 years, but he is perhaps best known for the one book he didn’t write: The Bible. Eugene ...

EDITORS NOTE : If you would like to be involved in the case for Bertina’s home, Jeremy asks for prayer. He writes, “But true prayer does not stop at a longing of the heart expressed to God, it moves into the world with action for change.” If yo ...

This past Sunday, Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of the blog Red State wrote a post titled “The Perversion of the Words of Our Lord Jesus Christ by the Sinner Barack H. Obama." First, I hope that Erickso ...

Heard an exceptionally good sermon, homily, teaching, preaching, lesson or message in church this Sunday? Share it with us. Did you hear a particularly good sermon, homily, teac ...

In this wide-ranging interview, the Huffington Post's Senior Religion Editor Paul Raushenbush spoke to President Carter by phone about the role faith played in the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, the time of h ...

Afternoon Links of Awesomeness: Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 IFC’s latest show is dedicated to fans of the facial hair: Whisker Wars ! And to celebrate new beginnings, fans can ...

Work and dignity are Christian values for the common good, and it is time for both political parties to support them. So let’s talk about jobs, jobs, jobs. Here is what I thou ...

How helps us understand that principled behavior isn't merely something a PR/Corporate Social Responsibility staff or attorneys tell us is important. Rather it is the surest path to success and relevance ...

This morning, as I caught up on what had been going on in the world over the weekend, I stumbled across a very interesting resource -- a website that compares the frequency with which words appear in ...

Editor's Note: HuffPost Religion is running a series of posts by Sojourners' Director of Mobilizing Lisa Sharon Harper and D.C. Editor's Note: HuffP ...

Before Jesus was born, his mother Mary predicted that he would offend some people. In the Magnificat she sang: "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the pow ...

Dead Sea Scrolls go digital Dead Sea Scrolls go digital The Dead Sea scrolls, 2,000 parchment and papyrus copies of 974 biblical texts, have been pixilated f ...

Evangelical author nears the end of her "biblical year" From making her own clothes to praising her husband at the city gate to sleeping outside in a tent for the duration of her period, Rachel Held ...

Make no mistake, Christians should be biased. I know there has been a lot of conversation in the past few years about Christians cleaning up their image. We are often known more for our prejudices than princi ...

Deep down I don't believe in the separation of church and state. Deep down I don't believe in the separation of church and state. Oh, I am against the idea of a state c ...

Did anyone else get the feeling, as we watched weather reporters wave their arms frantically in swirling motions across oversized maps of the eastern seaboard -- with their eyes bulging as they pus ...

On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average fell 634.76 points; the sixth-worst point decline for the Dow in the last 112 years and the worst drop since December 2008. On Monda ...

The debate we have just witnessed has shown Washington, D.C. to be not just broken, but corrupt. The debate we have just witnessed has shown Washington, D.C. to be not just broken ...

[Editors' note: Rev. John Stott, one of the world's most influential evangelical figures over the past half-century, died this Wednesday at age 90. Rev. [ Edi ...

"God is Watching," reads the headline for a full page ad Sojourners ran in this morning's Politico. "God is Watching," reads the headline for a full pag ...

Today is another intense day of politics at the White House. The debt default deadline is fast approaching. Today is another intense day of politics at the White House. The debt d ...

"I will call them my people, who were not my people. And her beloved, who was not beloved." (Romans 9:25 referencing Hosea 2:23) http://creativecommons.org/license ...

Whether we realize it or not, names matter. Ask Barack Hussein Obama, whose infamous middle name has led xenophobic adversaries to question his citizenship. Whether we realize it ...

<em>"Blessed are the good-hearted, poets, and the dreamers. And all us crazy, holy, hungry ones who still believe in something better."</em></p> "Ble ...

This past weekend, Christians around the world celebrated one of our holiest holi-days: Pentecost. This past weekend, Christians around the world celebrated one of our holiest hol ...

When young people graduate, they're often told to follow their dreams. Change the world. After all, the sky's the limit. When young people graduate, they're often t ...