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Dec 19, 2023 | 
anabaptistworld.org | Chad Martin
Aside from the Christmas story and Matthew’s account of Jesus visiting the temple at age 12, the Gospels offer few details about Jesus’ childhood — including his relationship with his father, Joseph. This absence leaves space for us to wonder about that relationship. It is fitting to do this at Christmas, one of the few times we notice Joseph. As the son of an unassuming carpenter myself, the older I get the more I appreciate my dad’s role in shaping my early life.
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Jul 14, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Libby Howe |Peter W. Marty |Chad Martin |Valerie Weaver-Zercher
To receive these posts by email each Monday, sign up. For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century. In Baptized We Live, Dan Erlander defines the “Living Word” in contrast to a “Dead Word.” He writes, “Scripture as ‘Dead Word’ is truth packaged in propositions with which we can argue, agree or disagree. . . .
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Jul 14, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Peter W. Marty |Chad Martin |Valerie Weaver-Zercher |Samuel Wells
Editor's note: This story is part of "Growing a Green Church," an ongoing series focused on churches' efforts to steward their buildings and land effectively in the context of a changing climate. The project is produced in collaboration with the Christian Century, Episcopal News Service, Faithfully Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, and Sojourners, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network and funding from the Fetzer Institute. Find more stories in the series here.
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Jul 13, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Peter W. Marty |Chad Martin |Valerie Weaver-Zercher |Samuel Wells
On communion Sundays, I bless the children in our congregation. One by one they stretch forth a palm or hold back their bangs as I make the sign of the cross with oil. This oil is held in a small stone vessel that fits in the palm of my hand. I skim the surface with the pad of my thumb and mark each child. Each week I invite one of the children to offer me a blessing as well, to mark me with the sign of the cross.
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Jul 12, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Julian DeShazier |Chad Martin |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
Earlier this year, Southern Baptists expelled five churches from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination for having women as pastors. Now, the leader of a fellowship of Black Southern Baptist pastors wonders if their churches will be next.
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Jul 12, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Julian DeShazier |Chad Martin |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
The origin story of my pacifism will be familiar to many Americans my age. I was 23 years old on September 11, 2001. I had grown up firmly middle-class and had lived, up to that point, in relatively small, safe places in Louisiana and Arkansas. I had not imagined that violence was a part of my everyday existence until the door to my 8 a.m. seminary class opened and we were commanded to turn on the television. Suddenly the distance between my college town and the world shortened.
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Jul 11, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Julian DeShazier |Chad Martin |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
Rose Macaulay (1881–1958) was an English novelist with views that were mystical and (eventually) Anglo-Catholic, and moreover passionately feminist. A prolific and once very popular writer who addressed wildly diverse, often daring topics, many of her novels deserve rereading. But one brilliant book in particular clamors for rediscovery. For many years, Macaulay was chiefly known for one comic novel, the delicious Middle Eastern travelogue The Towers of Trebizond (1956).
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Jul 10, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Julian DeShazier |Chad Martin |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
The 13th-century scottish priest John Duns Scotus was one of the first to articulate the scandal of particularity. He argued that true relationship between God and humans is only possible in the specific and concrete. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to love concepts, ideals, and generalities. Most Christians speak of the scandal of particularity in reference to the doctrine of incarnation. But it also comes up in discourse around the chosenness of God’s people through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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Jul 10, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Julian DeShazier |Chad Martin |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
As the founder of the Forgiveness Project I’ve spent nearly 20 years talking to people about what forgiveness means—in terms of both its indisputable transformative power but also about the obstacles and resistance that people face when attempting to forgive. In these conversations I’ve discovered that one thing seems to be hardest of all: forgiving ourselves. I’ve long been interested in the corrosive power of regret.
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Jul 7, 2023 | 
christiancentury.org | Chad Martin |Julian DeShazier |William Schultz |Amy Frykholm
To receive these posts by email each Monday, sign up. For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century. Biblical scholars make clear that verses 28–30 of Matthew 11—the heart of this pericope and one of the most tender, soothing passages in Scripture—is about sabbath.
