I tire of the modernist propensity to deconstruct the biblical narrative, reducing it to a pile of superstitious stories about a deity who does magic tricks, and “plays god” with creation. I tire of it and so I was grateful to have read to the end of Dr. McGrath’s book, The Burial of Jesus; What Does History Have To Do with Faith?. Grateful because, after Dr. McGrath did a credible job of deconstructing the fantasies he understands Christians of a... Read more

In his new book Fixing the Moral Deficit, theology professor and founder of Evangelicals for Social Action Ron Sider lays out a plan for “a balanced way to balance the budget” that is consistent with deeply Christian principles and provides justice for all. In this new video, Sider explains what he means by a “moral deficit” and what each of us can do to fix it. Visit the Patheos Book Club for more videos and conversation on how to fix... Read more

Hijacked co-author Chuck Gutenson on partisan politics: "My challenge to you, for this election season is just this: Do not let them mislead and distract you with campaign ads aimed to hijack Christian faith for partisan gain!" Read more

I have a lot of respect for Ron Sider. I’ve been a fan of him and his writings for years. He’s the kind of Christian who truly “gets it.” He understands and articulates the biblically prophetic call for Jesus’ followers to give a damn about the well-being of others. He conveys Jesus’ passion for loving our neighbors and he works well as a bridge between generally conservative evangelicals and generally liberal mainline Protestants. Sider’s latest book, Fixing the Moral Deficit:... Read more

Would it be possible to agree on one rule for this next political season? Let us agree that we will not treat members of the other party as if they are not really Christians. Read more

Those of us who are supposed to be united under the Lordship of Christ will find ourselves divided by partisan loyalties, and those outside the church will once again roll their eyes and wonder why we so easily allow our politics to trump our theology. Read more

By Christopher Shannon, President of the Samprajña Institute [This post is part of a roundtable discussion on the new book Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism by Rajiv Malhotra, now featured at the Patheos Book Club.] Civilizations endure because they are able to repair the deterioration that age and complacency bring to them. In a cultural context such repair is called a renaissance. Although on account of globalization one could hardly expect to witness a renaissance of any kind, some... Read more

By Jagdish Chandra Pant [This post is part of a conversation on the new book Being Different by Rajiv Malhotra, now featured at the Patheos Book Club.] The book Being Different authored by Rajiv Malhotra, provides a refreshing perspective of of the panorama of ideas relating to the inner most concerns of human kind, since times immemorial in the whole world. The vast number of readers of the English prose based in India have perhaps, never been exposed to such a... Read more

Jon M. Sweeney’s The Pope Who Quit offers a potent exploration of the tensions between spirituality and power, between individual piety and community polity, and what happens when the Two Cities Augustine wrote about, the earthly and heavenly, collapse into one. Read more

I love evangelicals. You all drive me crazy, but I love you. I’m liberal – in fact I left liberal in the dust so long ago I’ve forgotten what it looks like. But as I read Hijacked, a new book by Methodist pastors Mike Slaughter and Charles Gutenson on responding to partisan politics in the church, I felt a glimmer of hope rising within me. You see, I’m concerned that the church is dying. A lot of mainline Christians and virtually all... Read more