Poetry is language made material. It presents us with objects and the world, yes, that is part of its materiality, but it also – and perhaps fundamentally – makes our very language into a thing, rather than s ...

"These holidays have their roots in miracles that took place thousands of years ago. They connect us to our past and give us strength as we face the future. And they remind us of the common thread of huma ...

I also know some baptist preachers who tell the story of the Passion of Christ every Sunday. It is the Gospel, after all. This story, the Passion, is The Gospel for many of us Christian preachers. And to not s ...

23:42). There are perhaps no more human words in all of Scripture, no prayer we can pray so well." ~ ...

The image that moved his heart became one to which he returns daily, as do I. For the piercing of the side of the helpless man hanging on the cross happened not just then and there at Golgotha; it happens here ...

It turns out that, although plenty of folks have their own explanations, nobody actually knows why we call it Good Friday. I think the Germans are spot-on by calling it Karfreitag, which means “Suffering Frida ...

April 5, 2012   QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Our only hope today lies in ...

Patrick Greene, a lifelong atheist known for his public stands against Christianity, recently announced that he has become a Christian. Patrick Greene, a lifelong atheist known fo ...

Chuck Colson, the evangelical leader and founder of Prison Fellowship, is in critical condition after undergoing surgery following a brain hemorrhage on Friday. Chuck Colson, the ...

Jesus healed and he taught and he called for others to follow him, yet the suffering still was all around. Some part of his humanity must have wanted to take up a sword and fight it. Yet he knew that violence ...

We've compiled a playlist of songs inspired by or that speak in some way to the Holy Week journey that brings us to Maundy Thursday and the great mandate from which the day takes its name: "If I, the ...

A Church of England vicar has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for conducting hundreds of bogus weddings and illegally pocketing more than 30,000 pounds ($48,000) in fees. ...

One of the largest student religious groups at Vanderbilt University is leaving campus in a dispute over the school's non-discrimination policy that bars student groups from requiring their leaders to hol ...

I don’t ascribe to the belief that God sends such horrific episodes upon us as punishment, but I do believe that our free will affords us enough rope to hang ourselves at times, so to speak. Our current plague ...

There's much to contemplate this Holy Week, from Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Many artists have traveled this path, creating sonic accompaniment for the varied e ...

Faith alone offers no guarantees. Faith is not the proof of our beliefs, but rather the hope that what we choose to believe in is right. While the proven theories in life can only extend to a given limit, the ...

I stood in the middle of a valley. Hot wind whipped the sand at my feet. Dry bones, bleached by the sun covered the valley floor. Son of man, God said, can these bones live? It ...

When people commit an offense against us, our natural inclination is to commit an offense against them. Not just any offense, but an offense that is bigger, badder, and one that hurts far more. We call this re ...

Every Christian knows the story: Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what did he do on Saturday? Every Christian knows the story: Jesus ...

An elderly married couple asked by Pope Benedict XVI to write the texts for the traditional Stations of the Cross procession on Good Friday at the Colosseum in Rome has chosen to tackle family problems such as ...

Lots of folks love preaching about the risen Christ on Easter Sunday without talking about what he went through to get there. It’s a bad habit we Protestants have, but plenty of us skip right over Maundy Thurs ...

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday and the week that follows — Holy Week — are times for Christians to remember and share the biblical stories of Jesus’ teachings and actions for peace. These stories encourage us to pray and work for peace, especially in light ...

Rose Marie Berger What does God's "settlement" look like? Today’s Washington Post sits ope ...

Jeanne Murray Walker Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.                                                                 —Word ...

of any, they are retained” (John 20:23). For John, this is the essential experience of Pentecost. ... 3:2). [ April 29 ] Owned by the Needy Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John ...

While Passover cleaning of one form or another has been around since the Israelites fled from bondage in Egypt -- Passover's central theme -- some say the lengths to which many contemporary Jewish familie ...

Dramatic structure serves to sharpen our focus and draws us into narrative as imagined and experienced co-conspirators in the Palm Sunday service. The Bible is steeped in drama.   ...

In order to clear up any confusion, once and for all, I thought I’d compile a list of simple criteria to help you figure out if you are officially an emergent Christian or not. I’ ...

“Easter? Isn’t that over ?” I’m already gearing up to hear this, just as I launch into trying to trying to actually make something spiritually of Lent’s remaining weeks, after my feeble efforts, while also anticipating the Feast of Feasts that aw ...

For decades, Psalm 139 has been a byword of the anti-abortion movement, printed on posters in crisis pregnancy centers. More recently, it's been tied to high-resolution ultrasounds, the movement's mo ...

I honestly don’t know how I’ve made it 33 years like this. It is certainly not for lack of wanting sex or trying to make myself available. But somehow, between God’s sometimes-firm resistance to me getting my ...

Pope Benedict XVI’s 3-day visit to Cuba began Monday, when President Raul Castro greeted the pontiff at the airport of Santiago de Cuba. The arrival was fairly quiet, but the evening Mass in Santiago’s plaza w ...

The recession and a sluggish recovery have made for a lighter collection plate in recent years, but a new study shows that giving to U.S. congregations bounced back in 2011 as the economy improved. ...

effectively lost their battle within the Church of England when the Diocese of Lincoln cast the 23rd vote ...

“God doesn’t loves us as a flower but as a bouquet.” Most every Sunday Ruth or Lily Janousek hands me a drawing on the way out the door. I have quite a collection. Lily and Rut ...

TRENTON, N.J. — As part of a survey to understand why they have stopped attending Mass, a few hundred Catholics were asked what issues they would raise if they could speak to the bishop for five minutes. The ...

I’ve written a couple of pieces recently that have gotten a lot of attention about why younger people tend to walk away from church. Some readers suggested I might also post a piece about why young adults come ...

It’s been a mind-boggling fortnight at the Internet water cooler. Kony 2012. Mike Daisey’s dubious portrayal of Apple’s manufacturing practices abroad. Questions of whether the “Christian Movie Establishment” ...

You’d think I’d eventually run out of material for this weekly series I’ve been doing. Fortunately for me, there is no apparent end to the phenomenon that is the bad church sign. ...

the transfiguration (Luke 9:28); before he was arrested (John 17: 1-26); and minutes before he died (Luke 23 ... (Luke 10:21). And he beseeched God to forgive his executioners. (Luke 23:46). Yet Jesus’ did not tell ...

Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle that you used to stitch that Noah’s Ark for your child’s bedroom — than for a rich guy to get to heaven. Let. That. Sink. In. ...

Times have changed to such a degree that politicians now seek out the pope and prelates for support. But that does not mean all is well. The hostility of some in more liberal Mexico City show how far the relat ...

a chord structure common to folk/roots music. With over 20 musicians and 23 songs, Brooklyn’s collective ...

According to the 2012 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the almost $29 billion contributed by church members represented a 2.2 percent decrease in terms of per capita giving. ...

A national bake-off takes place 11 days before Passover, and all the weeks Amy Siegel typically devotes to preparing her kitchen for the holiday she's spent rehearsing her decidedly non-Passover-friendly ...

Religious conversions are on the rise in American prisons, according to a recent national survey of chaplains by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Religious conversions a ...

The owner of a business who claimed he would provide atheist rescuers for Christians' pets left behind in the Rapture now says his service was an elaborate hoax and never had any clients. ...

New research released today by the Pew Forum shows that the American public are becoming increasingly anxious of the amount of religious language being used by their public officials. ...

If there is any Catholic bishop in the U.S. who probably didn't need a bigger platform, it would be William E. Lori, who was named Tuesday by Pope Benedict XVI as the next archbishop of Baltimore. ...

Catholics fighting church closings across the U.S. are keeping their eyes on the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, where Bishop Richard Lennon was overruled by the Vatican for not properly following church law an ...