Stacey E. Simpson

Oct 18, 2024 | christiancentury.org | Meghan Murphy-Gill |Stacey E. Simpson |Wendell Berry |Brian Bantum

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. Before sending forth the congregation each Sunday, I often pray a blessing, echoing Philippians 4:7, that those present know the peace of God which passes all understanding. Knowledge in the information age is not just power but is often considered the highest good.

Oct 18, 2024 | christiancentury.org | Stacey E. Simpson |Wendell Berry |Brian Bantum |Jack Jenkins

My father was born in a Japanese colony that ceased to exist by his fourth birthday. My mother was born on an island that was surrendered to a neighboring authoritarian state by its colonizers. I was born in a country under martial law. All of us were born in Taiwan. We are embodied survivors of authoritarianism. We know what it’s like to live under totalitarian rule. We remember the fear of saying what you really believe. We know what it’s like to be paranoid that our neighbors might snitch on us.

Oct 17, 2024 | christiancentury.org | Stacey E. Simpson |Wendell Berry |Brian Bantum |Jack Jenkins

(Illustration by Scott Shellhamer) I am an immigrant to this country. I moved here with my young family almost 30 years ago. In 2018 we finally became citizens of the United States. As a younger man, in particular as a young academic, I couldn’t have imagined this. For a long time I was an earnest player in what Richard Rorty called the “America Sucks Sweepstakes.” Some of my theological inclinations led me to be suspicious of the state (and of these United States in particular).

Oct 17, 2024 | christiancentury.org | Stacey E. Simpson |Wendell Berry |Brian Bantum |Jack Jenkins

It’s time to vote again, to carry out a basic task of democracy. Or, as some would have it, to fulfill our sacred duty as Americans. This sort of elevated language for voting is common in our society. And indeed, the ability to vote—the right under the law, the access and time to get to the polls, protection from suppression and intimidation once you do—is a hard-won cornerstone of democracy.

Oct 17, 2024 | christiancentury.org | Christopher Hays |Richard B. Hays |Stacey E. Simpson |Wendell Berry

Should Christians who uphold the Bible as the word of God have to choose between love of God and love of the queer people in their lives? While the answer may seem obvious to most readers of this magazine, to many Christian it isn’t at all obvious. In posing the question, I am reminded of an openly gay teenage boy I knew whose parents sent him to an evangelical school.