Last time I wrote about the amazing growth of Catholic populations in Africa, to the point that they would very soon outnumber European believers. But beyond the raw fact of numbers, the African church has many features that distinguish it sharply from our familiar Western concepts. Each, to varying degrees, affects how those growing numbers will reshape the larger church as the years go by. I won’t go into any great detail here, as I have regularly discussed these topics... Read more
After a dozen years, I bid farewell to the Anxious Bench. Read more
What is Nicaea about? Most modern accounts will focus on the theological debate between Arius and Alexander of Alexandria, but the nature of the controversy before, during, and after Nicaea is obscure. Thus, some scholars argue Nicaea is about the doctrine of God, others soteriology, and others think it has nothing to do with theology at all. While prioritizing a certain doctrine or focus is necessary in all historical accounts, it is striking how our narratives shape how we treat... Read more
Yesterday morning, I received a startling email from my sons’ Little League head coach: one of the assistant coaches, a father of their teammate, had unexpectedly died. The news had my husband and me reeling. We had just seen this dad at a team gathering after our last game. We had joked with him. He and I talked about whether we prefer people to pronounce our name in Spanish or English (he said either; I said Spanish). And now he’s gone.... Read more
We are shortly to encounter a major landmark in the history of Christianity, and indeed of the world’s religions more generally. Within a couple of years, probably as early as 2026, the number of Roman Catholics in Africa will match that of Europe. (I am speaking of Catholics, not of Christians more generally). Thereafter, the African figure will surge ahead of the European. Let me repeat that statement. By about 2026, there will be as many Catholics in Africa as... Read more
The song “Deportee” came on my radar researching folk singer Joan Baez’s support of Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers (UFW). She publicly performed the song at the memorial service for murdered farmworker Juan De La Cruz. This footage is from the documentary Fighting For Our Lives about the 1973 strike and labor battle with the Teamsters’ union. Baez’s music closes the documentary. In fact, “Deportee” appeared as a special accompanying album with her album Blessed Are… that came out in... Read more
In my February I talked about Untangling Critical Race Theory: What Christians Need to Know and Why it Matters by Ed Uszynski. In this post I want to continue reflecting on some of the gems in this very significant book that he says he wrote primarily to white evangelicals. Untangling chronologically walks the reader through the rise of Marxism, critical theory, and finally Critical Race Theory (CRT). For each, Uszynski explains the historical context, the issues they were addressing, and... Read more
It’s Lent: Let’s Go to the Wilderness Budget cuts in the US government have resulted in more folks paying attention to the National Parks recently. While arguments over which branches of government are more or less vital or efficient, my own conversations seem to reveal that the National Parks have bipartisan support. The importance of having swaths of land preserved from development and preserved for citizens to enjoy holds wide appeal. It seems a truism that we need wilderness areas... Read more
Today’s blog is a slightly expanded reprint of a post I did at this site a couple of years ago. The post seems so suitable for the Lenten season. In 2023, I published the book He Will Save You from the Deadly Pestilence: The Many Lives of Psalm 91. Many things make that psalm highly distinctive among Biblical passages, not least the fact that it alone, among scriptural texts, is quoted by Satan himself. But Satan makes an odd mistake,... Read more
In Support of Expansive Education I saw a debate play out in the comments of a friend from college’s social media post the other week. It’s probably a scenario we’re all familiar with: someone posts a picture or an article, often a fairly innocuous one, that touches on a subject people have strong opinions on. And then the comments section goes wild; a commenter accuses the original poster of walking away from “true Christian faith,” and then the proof-texting with... Read more
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