Karen Swallow Prior
Karen Swallow Prior is Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the author of “Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More — Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist,” among other titles, and is editor of a series of classic literature, most recently “Jane Eyre” and “Frankenstein.” She and her husband live on a 100-year-old homestead in central Virginia with sundry horses, dogs, and chickens. And lots of books.
All Stories by Karen Swallow Prior

Beware the Black Robed Regiment cosplay
By Karen Swallow Prior — August 15, 2023
(RNS) — Dressing in the garb of Revolutionary clergy in the 21st century reflects neither biblical wisdom nor sound theology.

For too many Christians, the lines between dominionism, nationalism and fascism are blurred
By Karen Swallow Prior — July 11, 2023
(RNS) — An old social experiment sheds light on how easy it is to manipulate people’s moral compasses.

Thoughts on my 5-year anniversary of getting hit by a bus
By Karen Swallow Prior — May 24, 2023
(RNS) — First a bus, now a dog attack. If these are signs, they aren’t subtle.

Human progress, the myth of the modern age, is increasingly in doubt
By Karen Swallow Prior — May 11, 2023
(RNS) — Cruelty, plagues and the irrepressibility of a certain ex-president make optimism a tough sell.

Replacing vengeance with mercy in our death penalty policy
By Karen Swallow Prior — March 7, 2023
(RNS) — The troubling case of Andre Thomas invites a closer look at all the factors that play a part in the death penalty.

Grace Community Church let her down. Now she is standing in the gap for women.
By Karen Swallow Prior — February 16, 2023
(RNS) — Eileen’s life now is a far cry from the subservient role she once played to a domineering and violent husband.

Not all who harm the church are wolves. Some are renegade sheep.
By Karen Swallow Prior — February 2, 2023
(RNS) — The distinction makes a difference.

The alienation of Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land,’ at 100, has come to feel like home
By Karen Swallow Prior — December 13, 2022
(RNS) — The December birthday ‘The Waste Land’ shares with Christmas foreshadows the Easter that is to come.

We got here because too many good people put their head in the sand
By Karen Swallow Prior — November 7, 2022
(RNS) — Negligence is not only a vice — sometimes it’s a crime.

We can be an army of wounded warriors — or a collective of wounded healers
By Karen Swallow Prior — October 18, 2022
(RNS) — To be human is to be wounded, one way or another. Those hurts can be wielded in ways that further wound or in ways that help heal.

The scandal of evangelical Christian friendship
By Karen Swallow Prior — September 9, 2022
(RNS) — Christians more than anyone else ought to have the most robust and healthiest understanding of friendship, including, or especially, those between men and women.

A tight job market is a chance for Christians to rethink work
By Karen Swallow Prior — August 2, 2022
(RNS) — 'Ministry' is not defined by who signs our paycheck.

Can the Southern Baptist Convention be saved?
By Karen Swallow Prior — June 24, 2022
(RNS) — ‘Look for the helpers,’ said Mister Rogers, but right now in the SBC we need to look for the humble.

Overturning Roe v. Wade inches us back toward the arc of justice
By Karen Swallow Prior — May 3, 2022
(RNS) — Overturning Roe v. Wade will put abortion laws back at the state level, which only means that pro-life work is far from over.

Living with your parents — intentionally — can be life-giving
By Karen Swallow Prior — April 27, 2022
(RNS) — Multigenerational living doesn’t have to mean living in the basement.
Page 1 of 3