Dennis Okholm is professor of theology at Azusa Pacific University.  He is the editor or author of several books including the well received, Monk Habits for Everyday People. This interview revolves around Okholm’s latest book, Dangerous Passions, Deadly Sins: Learning from the Psychology of Ancient Monks . The interview was conducted by David George Moore.  Dave blogs at www.twocities.org. Moore: I am going to begin with a somewhat personal question.  It really is not personal, I guess, because “Rate My... Read more

Lena H. Sun: Most babies in the United States are born on a weekday, with the highest percentages delivered between 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and from noon to 1 p.m., according to a report published Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics. That won’t come as too much of a surprise to many pregnant women who had cesarean deliveries. Most births in the United States take place in hospitals. And as C-sections and induced labor have increased during... Read more

Rod Dreher: I’m pleased to see more and more people arguing about the Benedict Option. This is important. I don’t have a hard, fixed, formulaic idea of what it is, and all this back and forth is helpful to me in thinking through it. My thesis is this: These are not normal times for Christians in America. Our country has become post-Christian, meaning not that people don’t go to church, but that the ideals and principles of normative Christianity have... Read more

A year has passed since we introduced Dr. Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung’s book Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies.  Those initial two posts were a fly-over of the book and only dabbled a little with a few specific vices. In this series of posts, we will take a closer look at each of the seven “capital sins,”that is, the deadly ones that are the source of so many other expressions of our depravity. Two... Read more

At some point I crossed the line where books about discipleship became redundant. Either they were straightforward expositions of the categories of following Jesus as we find in the Gospels or they were using discipleship for other traditions in the church about the Christian life: the spiritual disciplines, higher life, activism, eucharistic worship, peace and reconciliation, or more Bible study. But as one who wants to be a disciple and who wants to be refreshed about discipleship it is now... Read more

From WaPo’s WonkBlog: Read more

Orlando Patterson: CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — THE recent unrest in Baltimore raises complex and confounding questions, and in response many people have attempted to define the problem solely in terms of insurgent American racism and violent police behavior. But that is a gross oversimplification. America is not reverting to earlier racist patterns, and calling for a national conversation on race is a cliché that evades the real problem we now face: on one hand, a vicious tangle of concentrated poverty, disconnected... Read more

By Michelle Van Loon: So much of my Christian journey has been marked by the way those in power have used their social privilege to either protect themselves or promote those in their families or their inner circles. I’ve written about nepotism in this space before. Others (click here and here) have raised lots of important questions about nepotism and related forms of cronyism in the church. These practices live directly at the intersection of a leaders’ joy in seeing his or her children/pals following the... Read more