Martin E. Marty

"Marty" is one of the most prominent interpreters of religion and culture today. Author of more than 50 books, he is also a speaker, columnist, pastor, and teacher, having been a professor of religious history for 35 years at the University of Chicago.

All Stories by Martin E. Marty

‘Shocking’ news on worship and the public

By Martin E. Marty — May 3, 2017
We don’t expect religion to make shocking news unless there are sex or financial scandals in the world of the church, synagogue, etc. Add to that theological controversies over the beginning of things (think of headlines about evolution) or the end of things (think apocalypse, be it nuclear or otherwise). Yet whoever consistently sights the religious scene knows that worship is a hotly contested phenomenon among those who “practice” religion, or who are “observant.”

Religio-secular … again

By Martin E. Marty — April 26, 2017
How “religious” are the “religious” when they make political or consumer choices? How “secular” are the “secular” when they want to do justice to American culture and society by simply overlooking religion and the religious?

Radical generosity revisited

By Martin E. Marty — April 18, 2017
I could profane the plot by writing a true but merely practical summary: 'Radical generosity works.' But Truax and Campbell sacralize the story by rooting it in the trust and faith they demonstrate, as did their members. And, we know, as believers do elsewhere, in a wild variety of ways which also merit attention — surprising as so many of their stories are.

An irrelevant war?

By Martin E. Marty — April 11, 2017
...I used the season to revisit old accounts of that war and what it shows about how religious and other leaders can get swept up and caught up in hyper-nationalism, patriotic idolatry, and loss of self-critical (or prophetic) perspective.

Niebuhr and the situation

By Martin E. Marty — April 5, 2017
The most promising response would be for those inspired by the film, as well as by old and new books by and about Niebuhr, not to ask “Who are the new Niebuhrs?” or “Why are there no new Niebuhrs?” We should be concerned less with who he was than with what he did.

Not wishy-washy

By Martin E. Marty — March 29, 2017
Well-intentioned, tolerant folks are properly repelled if not threatened by the murderous language that frequently finds its way into expressions of religious faith, life, and culture. Some of them believe that if they only half-believe or half-express elements of their own faith and tradition, they will help bring about a new peaceable kingdom.

Humanities endangered

By Martin E. Marty — March 23, 2017
The arts and humanities may have a lower priority when it comes to the Union’s constitutional commitment to promoting the general welfare—relative to higher priorities like care for the aged, the ill, the poor, the displaced—but they deserve a glance in this time of crisis.

Transitioning out of mediocrity

By Martin E. Marty — March 15, 2017
Cisgender dysphoria, transgender identity, etc., were not part of my formal curriculum in theology or religious studies, which ended at 3:00 p.m. on graduation day, December 14th, 1956.

Alien citizens

By Martin E. Marty — March 8, 2017
We’ll keep reading the Bruderhof journal and related materials, to be challenged when we disagree and cheered when, as so often happens, we are jarred into agreement with these residents-with-a-difference.

The church militant

By Martin E. Marty — March 1, 2017
One of the useful side effects of the current religio-political battles is that they may force commentators, and the rest of us, to trace our way back to vestiges of the olden ways, and understand them.

Benedict, not Benedictine

By Martin E. Marty — February 23, 2017
...my Benedictine friends distance themselves from the strictly “Benedict” version, despite some corollaries, coincidences, and common sources.

Sacred sites violated

By Martin E. Marty — February 16, 2017
What if the Sioux Nation decided to build a pipeline through Arlington Cemetery?

What’s ressentiment got to do with it

By Martin E. Marty — February 9, 2017
People will even vote against their own interests, or redefine their most cherished religious beliefs, because they are victims of ressentiment.

Religious art discovered alive!

By Martin E. Marty — February 2, 2017
As S. Brent Plate finds: "Dig around in art, and we find religion. Dig around in religion, and we find art."

Carrying on, or the little man who wasn’t there

By Martin E. Marty — January 26, 2017
...it will be more creative if theologians, religious scholars, political philosophers, some politicians, commentators, communicators, and thoughtful people of all "callings"—in business, commerce, education, industrial life, homemaking, media, and so much more—"carry on… as if nothing had happened"...
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