The Bible May Be Stranger Than You Think … And Why It Matters
Despite the Bible’s ubiquity, despite the Bible’s appearance as a book like any other on…
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Why It’s Heresy to Read the Bible Literally: An Interview with John Shelby Spong
Security sells. That’s why, says retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, despite his best-selling controversial…
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A Biblical Perspective That Recognizes Black Women
What inspired you to write An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation? I used some of…
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The Biblical Circus of William Stringfellow
He was an Episcopal theologian, activist, openly gay man, and connoisseur of the circus…
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One Nation, Many Bibles: Obama vs. Dobson
Americans wrestle with the biblical text, but there is no one correct way to read scripture.
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Is Christianity Simply About God Entering the Uterus of a Jewish Virgin?
In a recent promotional letter, Richard Dawkins caricatured the average American’s Christian beliefs. Problem is, caricatures cease to be useful when the critic invites his audience to deride the real thing based on a lampoon.
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Are Christians Theologically Prepared to Accept Torture?
The results of a new Pew survey indicate that going to church increases the likelihood that people will support torture, especially if they are white evangelical Protestants. This is not good news.
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O(pinn)ion: Cosmic Lessons: When the Ministry Pulls a Madoff
A minister’s son plays Bernie Madoff and swindles his father’s congregation out of millions. Is it helpful to see events like this in terms of God’s plan?
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The Bible Says… and Other Myths About Scripture
Revealing why citing “chapter and verse” once had no meaning, why 16th century Catholics capitalized “Word” but not “God,” and why the King James Bible is anti-Puritan, Lori Anne Ferrell’s new book reminds us that everything is historical: the Christian religion, the Christian people, the Christian book.
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The Bible as Security Blanket, Blindfold, or Weapon
Drawing on sources as diverse as feminist theology, biblical criticism and Midrash, renowned poet Alicia Suskin Ostriker’s latest book of essays seeks to rescue the Bible from the clutches of narrow conservatism.
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