Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Board of Directors has named the Rev. Lisa L. Thompson as assistant professor of homiletics. She will begin June 1, 2013. “Many believe that Lisa Thompson will be the leading African-American homiletician of the future,” said the Rev. Dr. William J. Carl III, president and professor of homiletics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. “Deep pastoral wisdom and spiritual maturity mark Lisa Thompson’s mentoring both in the classroom and the church. We look forward to the excitement she will... Read more

Irish Women, Religion and the Diaspora: A Symposium Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool Saturday 18th January 2014 The Women on Ireland Research Network invite paper proposals for a symposium on Irish Women, Religion and the Diaspora. This Symposium seeks to understand not only the shifting role that religion has played in the lives of Irish women but the role that Irish women themselves have undertaken in religious institutions and organisations and how this role has changed over time. Although... Read more

Sometimes important religious discoveries are literally unearthed, giving us previously unavailable artifacts and texts — such as the discovery of the so-called Gnostic Gospels in 1945 or the discovery of the Gospel of Judas more recently. At other times modern readers re-discover texts that have long been available, documents, for example, known all along to scholars, but not in wide circulation. The Apocryphal Gospels — over forty texts in all — include both kinds of discoveries. These early Christian writings... Read more

I was recently made aware of a debate going on in the neo-reformed Gospel Coalition corner of the world that I tend to avoid. Doug Wilson, a megachurch pastor from Boise, Idaho, argues in his newly released book “Black and Tan” that the abolitionist movement was wrong and the Civil War should never happened, because if Southern slave-owners had been allowed to implement the Bible’s teachings on slavery, then a more humane transition would have taken place through “gospel gradualism.”... Read more

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             Everyone’s talking about a recent Pew survey allegedly showing that nineteen percent of Americans say “none” when asked about their religious affiliation.  As a result, one news outlet declared that “religion is declining” in America. Another (headline) stated that the survey shows “unbelief” is growing. I question the interpretations of the survey (as I question those of most surveys—especially about religion).             There can be little doubt that “religious affiliation” with specific, nameable religious organizations is... Read more

The jury is still out on Pope Francis in a pontificate that may well be shaped by women. A month after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named Bishop of Rome, his Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Most Reverend Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, met with the presidents of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group of American nuns that had come under doctrinal scrutiny and been found wanting. Archbishop Mueller claimed that he had “recently... Read more

When I was a student at Earlham School of Religion, school policy was that in our written and oral contributions to our classes, worship and community life, we should do our best to use gender-inclusive language for God. In practical terms, this meant avoiding the personal pronoun he, usually simply replacing it with the word God. This language switch could get a little bit tricky, since standard English has some serious limitations when it comes to expressing a non-gendered personal entity. I remember... Read more

by Eric Brown R3 Contributor I must admit the past two weeks have been slightly stressful in Nashville. I have been to Legislative Plaza to see a state senator running away from an eight-year-old child while calling her a prop. All of his actions based on the fact that he wants to punish families in poverty on welfare, if their kids do not get a certain grade on report cards and make parent-teacher conferences mandatory twice per year. I would... Read more

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