Jesus
Modern-day crucifixions
By Jennifer Jones — April 6, 2018
(RNS) — Black men nationwide are still disproportionately killed by police. Each name turned hashtag reminds us that the scales of justice seem permanently tilted away from black and brown people in the United States.
King in Montgomery: A white Southern Baptist minister reflects
By Alan Cross — April 5, 2018
(RNS) — If we benefit from the status quo, we can seek to maintain it rather than recognize that a wheel of injustice might be grinding our neighbor down. King shone a light on that injustice and it often made white Christians uncomfortable. His words and legacy, if we listen, still make us uncomfortable today.
From hell to atonement, musician Audrey Assad has been quietly evolving
By Jonathan Merritt — April 5, 2018
(RNS) — 'I suppose if there is anything I could say I reject, it is the idea that God’s love and acceptance is dependent on our right belief. I no longer see how that could be possible,' said Audrey Assad.
The ’Splainer: The stormy, surprising history of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
By Kimberly Winston — March 29, 2018
(RNS) — What's the back story on this British import being revisited and reimagined on television Sunday night? Let us 'Splain ...
From ‘Downton’ to Jerusalem, actor Hugh Bonneville searches for Jesus
By Kimberly Winston — March 16, 2018
(RNS) — The beloved 'Lord Grantham' takes his background in theology to Jerusalem in a new documentary.
Can former journalist Lee Strobel make a convincing case for miracles?
By Jonathan Merritt — March 14, 2018
Former editor for "The Chicago Tribune" compiles evidence to prove miracles. But is it effective to build a logical case for a mystical event?
What would Jesus do? Help the Dreamers and secure the border
By Robert Jeffress — February 12, 2018
(RNS) — Many people — including a large segment of evangelicals — fail to grasp the God-given distinction between the church and government.
What did Jesus wear?
By Joan Taylor — February 12, 2018
(The Conversation) — For Joan Taylor, as a historian, trying to visualize Jesus accurately is a way to understand Jesus more accurately, too.
Spending Lent with Alexa
By Thomas Reese — February 5, 2018
(RNS) — A Catholic priest should not have a woman in his bedroom at night, but the Rev. Thomas Reese confesses he has become quite dependent on this "smart lady" and is not planning to give her up.
Winter inside the Church and the hope of Christmas
By Boz Tchividjian — December 19, 2017
(RNS) — My 20 years of confronting and addressing sexual abuse within churches and other faith organizations has convinced me that abuse within the church will only end when professing Christians stop distorting Jesus for the purposes of excusing abusive behavior and silencing the abused.
In Christ’s birthplace, olive wood artisans carry on a Holy Land tradition
By Lauren Markoe — December 19, 2017
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (RNS) — Artisans in and around Bethlehem specialize in carving wood from a tree that makes several appearances in the Bible. They consider the work — a millennium-old tradition — holy. But clashes between Israelis and Palestinians threaten this year's Christmastime sales.
Americans see more jingle, less Jesus in Christmas celebrations
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — December 13, 2017
WASHINGTON (RNS) — The survey captures how 'too many people think Christmas is about a mall and not a manger,' said Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.
How Christmas is linked to Hanukkah
By Lauren Markoe — December 8, 2017
(RNS) — Without the Maccabees’ victory and the preservation of Jewish religious life in ancient Israel, Christianity may not have emerged 200 years later with its taproots deeply embedded within Judaism.
Roy Moore and the wages of hypocrisy
By Mark Silk — November 10, 2017
(RNS) — It's an old Abrahamic story.
The gospel for gun-loving Christians
By Jonathan Merritt — October 3, 2017
How exactly can someone do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly while carrying a deadly assault rifle? asks David Gringor in a commentary.
