What Is The ‘Enneagram,’ And Why Are Christians Suddenly So Enamored By It?
A personality typing system has been quietly infiltrating Christian communities for the last quarter-century. But some believers may be excused for their skepticism. After all, the “Enneagram” is an...
View ArticleIs God Boosting Stephen Colbert’s Ratings?
Before 2017, Jimmy Fallon dominated Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel in the late night talk show ratings wars. But Colbert has since emerged as the victor, besting his rivals in overall viewership for...
View ArticleThe Rise And Fall Of The Christian Bookstore
Back in the 1990s, it often seemed that every city and town in America had a strip mall with a Christian bookstore where you could purchase WWJD bracelets and enough devotional books to fill up the Ark...
View ArticleEvangelicals Squander Their Moral Authority By Sticking With Trump
In the wake of President Trump’s waffling on white supremacy, his supporters and advisers have abandoned him in droves. After a wave of prominent CEOs defected from the president’s Manufacturing...
View ArticleSociologist Rodney Stark Gets Cranky About Religion
(RNS) — Among sociologists of religion, few names are as revered — and controversial — as Rodney Stark. He has authored 150 scholarly articles and 32 books in 17 different languages, and never shies...
View ArticleThe Gospel For Gun-Loving Christians
(David Gungor wrote this post as a guest writer for Jonathan Merritt’s column.) (RNS) — At a church where I used to serve, one of our lead pastors owned an assault rifle. It was a glorious specimen as...
View ArticleFirst Look: Trump Talks Israel On Mike Huckabee’s New TBN Show
The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), America’s premier Christian television station, is not just for televangelists anymore. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will launch a new TBN talk show,...
View ArticleAlan Jacobs’ Antidote To Christian Anti-Intellectualism
Conservative theologian J.P. Moreland once wrote, “The contemporary Christian mind is starved, and as a result we have small, impoverished souls.” Indeed, Western Christianity, particularly in its...
View ArticleChurch Clarity Pressures Pastors And Churches To Disclose Views On Homosexuality
(RNS) — Jim has happily attended his church for more than six months. But he decided that this past Sunday would be his last. Why? Because he attended a membership class and discovered the church’s...
View ArticleRoy Moore And The Moral Mirror Of Hatred
Judge Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions’ ascension to attorney general, has long been a purveyor of pietistic hate speech. The self-proclaimed...
View ArticleWhy Liberty University Kicked An Anti-Trump Christian Author Off Campus
Jonathan Martin, a prominent anti-Trump Christian author, was escorted off the grounds of Liberty University by campus police officers Monday night. He was told to never return or he would be arrested...
View ArticleWhy Pastor Robert Jeffress’ Interview With Sean Hannity Was So Maddening To...
(RNS) — Who knew that a simple meeting between a preacher and a pundit would be so controversial? But it starts to make sense when you consider the preacher. And the pundit. And the meeting itself. At...
View ArticleAgainst Clarity: A Progressive Christian Opposes Rating Churches On LGBT...
(RNS) —As reported by RNS senior columnist Jonathan Merritt, an organization called Church Clarity wants to label as many congregations as possible “affirming” or “non-affirming” of LGBTQ+ members. For...
View ArticleA Funeral Director Says Many Churches (Unknowingly) Promote A ‘Death...
What do you think about when you think about funerals? Most of us probably think about death, grief, mourning, tears, and the well-dressed corpses of lost loved ones. But Caleb Wilde, a longtime...
View ArticleNeeded: A Coalition Of Feminists And Conservative Christians
In 2006, conservative theologian Wayne Grudem released a 272-page jeremiad decrying feminism as a “slippery slope” to liberalism and “a system of thinking that denies the complete truthfulness of the...
View ArticleUnderstanding The Evangelical Obsession With Israel
Donald Trump isn’t the first president who has promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the American embassy there. But he is the only one to keep it. Trump made his...
View ArticleAmid A Sex Abuse Crisis, A New Conservative Christian Vision For Womanhood?
In times of cultural crisis, societies have no choice but to enter a period of rethinking. America has crossed the rubicon with the recent tidal wave of sex abuse scandals. Dozens of influential men...
View ArticleAfter Roy Moore, Evangelicals Must Trade Wishful Thinking For Soul-Searching
Everyone agrees that Democrat Doug Jones won yesterday’s hotly contested Senate race in Alabama. Everyone, that is, except Republican candidate Roy Moore. The controversial candidate refused to admit...
View ArticleForget ‘Happy Holidays.’ Let’s Talk About Congress This Christmas.
The following is a guest post from Cheryl Bridges Johns and Alexei Laushkin The season leading to Christmas can be so busy and bustling that we overlook the staggering invitation to peace and...
View ArticleSexuality, Race, And Gender: 3 Explosive Insights About America’s 100 Largest...
Last October, evangelicalism was rocked by the launch of ChurchClarity.org, an organization that reports churches’ LGBTQ+ policies and rates congregations based on their level of clarity. The website...
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