We are pleased to feature an interview with Joshua DuBois as the first post on this new blog about the art and craft of writing on religion. DuBois’ recently published book, The President’s Devotional, has been well received and widely reviewed. DuBois served as Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships during President Obama’s first term. He now teaches at New York University and is founder of the Values Partnerships consultancy. The President’s Devotional is an unusual... Read more

In the afternoon of November 15, 1940, Langston Hughes was headed toward the exquisite Vista del Arroyo Hotel in Pasadena to attend a luncheon in celebration of his recently published biography, The Big Sea. As the car in which he was being driven got nearer his destination he heard the strains of Irvin Berlin’s recently revised, “God Bless America.” The music was coming from a “sound-truck” parked directly across the street from the hotel. It displayed a banner with the... Read more

by Andre E. Johnson R3 Editor When I first received notice about his death, I just could not believe what I had read. In the form of a text message, it read, “I’m sure you heard about Rex.” I responded, “No, what happened?” fearing the worst because I knew he suffered from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. My fears were realized when “He died this morning,” came buzzing through my phone. I paused as I read the message, said a quick prayer for his... Read more

1. THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come. I. A JOY EVER NEW, A... Read more

Pope Francis is full of surprises. This month he launched a survey of Catholic opinion in order to inform a special synod on the family scheduled to meet in Rome next October. Not surprisingly, it’s caught many national conferences of bishops on the hop. Under John Paul II and Benedict XIV they’d got used to a Vatican which looked inwards rather that outwards for authority. A favourite text was Lumen Gentium’s passage which insists that the magisterium of the Pontiff requires... Read more

One of the most memorable moments of those fateful days following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination was the haunting beauty of his funeral at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, D.C.  Kennedy’s Catholic faith played a prominent role during his lifetime and in the official ceremonies in Washington following his death.  It’s important for us to remember that for Kennedy, his faith tradition not only informed and influenced his personal identity, but also played a central role in his and all... Read more

CALL FOR PAPERS Critical Insights into Black Religion: Christianity, Islam and Spirituality (Working Title) Guest Editors:Joy Bostic, Case Western Reserve University and Tamelyn Tucker-Worgs, Hood CollegeSpirituality, religion and religious institutions are central to the lives of black people in Africa and the African Diaspora. Religious Studies scholar Anthony Pinn suggests that while “the religious landscape” of the African Diaspora is “complex and diverse” a core theme running throughout this terrain is the determination of black people to create complex subjectivity... Read more

Last week, a controversy erupted over Twitter when it came to light that a prominent evangelical conference with 110 speakers only had four women on stage. Journalist Jonathan Merritt did a quick informal study and discovered that out of 34 prominent evangelical conferences, only 19 percent of speakers at plenary sessions were women. This is a problem. As a white male evangelical and a black female evangelical who spend a lot of time speaking at conferences, events, and college campuses, we know from... Read more

For over half a century, Francis Grimke (1850-1937) held the reputation of being one of the leading African American clergy in the U.S. During the infamous Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras, Grimke found a prophetic voice which he used to proclaim the gospel of Christ over and against social ills which plagued the nation. Born in Charleston, South Carolina to a slave mother, Nancy Weston, and her owner, Henry Grimke, Francis was the nephew of the well-known abolitionist sisters Angelina... Read more

Written in 1779 by the playwright and philosopher Gotthold Lessing, Nathan the Wise ranks among the most powerful arguments for religious tolerance in the entirety of the eighteenth century. Germany in the age of Enlightenment was still trembling from the confessional disputes of earlier times. The Reformation motto “cuius regio, eius religio” (where the prince reigns, so too his religion) had not put an end to strife amongst Lutherans, Calvinists, and Catholics. But Lessing’s play extended the hand of tolerance even beyond... Read more