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What Did the Puritans Have Against Christmas?

By Bruce David Forbes

…o religion and says nothing about a baby in a manger—but it does promote a spirit of giving and care for others that can be embraced by almost anyone. The point here is that the Puritan suppression of Christmas created a vacuum, and when Christmas re-emerged and flourished in the 1800s its new form had less of a religious emphasis and was centered more on family and generosity. Christians could embrace those themes gladly, as very consistent with…

Bachmann Weaves Own Salvation Story into Christian Nation Mythology

By Sarah Posner

…hool, God gave her a “life verse,” 2 Corinthians 3:17 (Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.) And she used that “life verse” to wrap her own salvation story into an Christian American exceptionalism narrative. Liberty, said Bachmann “is the great animating principle of this nation.” Jesus, she went on, “came to set the captives free.” That, she went on, “is the essence of the founding of this nation.” B…

America’s Fat Tues Turns to Ash Wed: Imagine a Humility-Driven Recovery

By Peter Laarman

…ny, rather than the 70% it has been in the United States. For us a genuine spiritual revolution need not be a Teutonic killjoy revolution—a mere taking away of the goodies that people now enjoy. And in fact this revolution of the spirit will not succeed unless it actually expands the joys and satisfactions of everyday living to people who will no longer be seeking all of their joys and satisfactions from shopping. Shopping has infantilized us. A h…

The Christian Worldview Revealed by Sessions’ Use of Romans 13

By Susan B. Ridgely

…ament in three equally important persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—who all had specific and clearly defined roles: God, the father, as the authority; Jesus as the son who submits himself to God; and the Holy Spirit as the manifestation of God’s grace. Each week’s video explored how this relationship of authority, submission and manifestation could be found throughout a truly Christian society in the home, the school, the workplace,…

A Long History of Blaming the Jews

By Gordon Haber

…o gentiles. Paul resolved the quandary by distinguishing between flesh and spirit, between the Jewish focus on the things of this world—“texts, bodies, objects”—and salvation through faith in Jesus. Although aspects of Paul’s teachings are debatable (such as the extent of his dualism), when he defined Christianity in opposition to Judaism, he created a remarkably useful framework for those who came after him. According to Nirenberg, the first cent…

A Catholic’s Eulogy for the Harvard “Black Mass” Controversy

By Craig A. Ford Jr.

…he doing of good. But with respect to the black mass we have rejected that spirit and capitulated to a culture of abjection and hysteria. We heard the words “Satanist” and “black mass,” and quickly turned our eyes, ears, and hearts away from these people, assuring ourselves that we knew exactly what was going on, and that we wanted nothing to do with them. But what did we actually “know”? Much of the discussion in the Catholic world surrounding th…

A Writer’s Murder Raises Fears of Death-by-Decree

By Shalom Goldman

…permissibility of spilling their blood lack any Quranic proof. Rather, the spirit of Quran is contrary to such decrees. Kadivar’s condemnation of all fatwas that call for the death of a “blasphemer” or “apostate” is in the spirit of his general approach to Islamic law. In his opinion as a legal scholar, an interpretation of Islam is fully compatible with the provisions of the UN declaration of Human Rights. When I asked him if he was optimistic ab…

Why So Many American Christians Don’t Understand Protest

By Leah Pannell

…d understood this and disrupted the world in a human body. Filled with the Spirit, Jesus declared, “You have nothing to lose but your chains!” He walked the earth, protesting the powers of death and darkness, disrupting systems as he healed the sick, embraced the poor, and ultimately claimed victory over death and the grave. It’s hard for me to comprehend how so many fellow Christians misunderstand the purpose behind protest. The forms differ, but…

Yes, Virginia: There IS a War on Christmas: Its Revolutionary Meaning is Inverted in the Winner-Take-All Era

By Peter Laarman

…dered efficient (in Harvard Business School terms) as it fuels the porcine spirits needed to propel a robust capitalism. Likewise, nothing brings the reality of the lives of the poor home like spending even the tiniest amount of time with people who are not making it at all: with people who are living in unheated tenements or living rough on the street. Children, for God’s sake, suffering exposure and malnutrition right under our noses in This Gre…

Reports of the Black Church’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated: A Review of Walter Fluker’s Latest Book

By Joseph Winters

…panied by a passage from the proverbial frying pan to the fire of the Holy Spirit. Here Fluker plays on the ambivalence of fire in the context of black strivings. While it can refer to racialized violence and destruction (lynching, the burning of black churches), it also alludes to the experience of being overwhelmed, and consumed, by the Spirit. Fire here signifies passion and life. Fire is that energy that takes an individual beyond herself, ope…