Dunwell, Satanic Temple, and Christian Nationalism’s Failing

Last updated on: June 2, 2025 at 10:00 am By Guest Contributor

Iowa state House Representative Jon Dunwell (R) has been on a hero’s journey for the past two weeks. The Representative, who is also an ordained minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has been confronting Christian nationalism after a display was set up earlier this month in the Capitol building. Dunwell’s stand on X (formerly Twitter), which has generated thousands of comments and over 7 million views, has directly challenged Christian nationalism—the ideology blending white evangelical religious and ethnic norms... Read more

FROM THE ARCHIVES: In Every Heart There Is a Womb

Last updated on: December 20, 2024 at 1:45 pm By Jacob Randolph

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For my post this month, I wanted to revisit my Christmas post from last December. I’m still compelled by the power of this metaphor and the theologians who utilized it to draw closer to the incarnate Christ. I hope it blesses you as well! – JR In Every Heart There Is a Womb: Mary’s Pregnancy and Ours As I’ve been thinking about what to bring to my column this month in preparation for the birth of Christ, two things have... Read more

When The Darkness Did Not Grasp The Light

Last updated on: December 21, 2023 at 6:56 am By Philip Jenkins

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Over the Christmas season, our churches will be reading the magnificent Prologue to John’s Gospel, which is the foundation of so much of the Christian theology of Incarnation. This tells of the Light, and how “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1.5 RSV, also NIV) or alternatively, “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (KJV). Overcome and comprehended – aren’t those radically different words? Is one wrong? Why do... Read more

From Oxford Don to Field Preacher

Last updated on: December 18, 2023 at 5:09 pm By David Swartz

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In my historical research I try to find a balance between the beautiful and the terrible. This Christmas post, an ode to biblical history and Wesleyan history, focuses on the beautiful. Read more

Spending Advent with Our (Church) Fathers and Mothers

Last updated on: December 15, 2023 at 8:09 am By Adam Renberg

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Devotional literature is everywhere. It might be found on your grandma’s bookshelf, the catalogue of a Christian publisher, or the ‘religious book’ section in your local Walmart. While there might be disparity between the quality of certain devotionals, these works are meant to foster and encourage spiritual discipline, expand our understanding of the biblical text, or simply bring comfort amidst a challenging season. While the format of most modern devotionals is unique, this practice is anything but. Christians have long... Read more

Shall a Nation be Born in a Day? Megachurches on Gaza

Last updated on: December 19, 2023 at 1:13 am By Erica Ramirez

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Hi! I am a sociologist on a tour of Texas Megachurches. Check out my first post here. When I first began this tour, I set out looking to document how Texas churches do (or do not) advance what sociologists call Christian Nationalism. Per sociologists Sam Perry and Phil Gorski, “Christian nationalism is an ideology that idealizes and advocates a fusion of American civic life with a particular kind of Christianity.” At its core, Christian Nationalism expresses a priority for Christianity... Read more

Before You Came to Birth: Grieving Children Lost in the Womb

Last updated on: December 15, 2023 at 4:06 am By Verónica A. Gutiérrez

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I have been struggling lately. Grief that generally rests quietly in my heart has been swelling up at unexpected, inauspicious moments. It began at the end of Divine Liturgy on the third Sunday in November. Sorrow had filled my heart that morning, though I wasn’t sure why. When our priest came out to name those whose anniversary of “falling asleep in the Lord” occurred in November, I stiffened. Glancing in my direction, he mentioned Ana Verónica, the daughter I lost... Read more

The Year Jesus Was Born

Last updated on: December 17, 2023 at 7:46 am By Philip Jenkins

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Well, this is not the kind of subject matter that people normally address when planning their Christmas sermons, but bear with me… Scholars differ on the exact birth-date of Jesus of Nazareth, though a fair consensus holds that it was not in the year 1. Many favor a date in or around 4 BC, and for the sake of argument, let us take that as accurate. If so, the birth occurred during or near a truly dreadful time in the... Read more

2023: My Year in Books

Last updated on: December 12, 2023 at 9:37 pm By Nadya Williams

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This has been a year of very big changes for the Williams family, as my oldest graduated high school, I walked away from academia after 15 years, and then Dan began a new job. This last development also necessitated our move from Carrollton, Georgia to Ashland, Ohio. Sure, some families would have also thought that this would be a great time to get a puppy too—because, why not? Rest assured; we still had enough sanity left to say: that’s a... Read more

Please Think Better about Race

Last updated on: December 12, 2023 at 3:49 pm By Malcolm Foley

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I shouldn’t be surprised by now but I still am. As both a pastor and a scholar, I continue to face what I can only describe as sloppy modes of thinking about race. I’m sure you see it too. It came to my mind recently in considering the controversy over the statements of university presidents concerning the Israel/Hamas war, but specifically Michael Harriot’s tweet (yes, I will continue to call them tweets and I will call the platform Twitter): I... Read more