Which raises the thorny question: what will the church do about that pesky “fidelity and chastity” clause?
Moses on the Mayflower: Was the Prophet a Founding Father?
Author Bruce Feiler is back from “walking the Bible” and is roaming the country, tracing Moses’ footsteps. But in his eagerness to make the prophet into a unifying symbol, he misses the true complexity of the relationship between religion and the secular in America.
Sex, the Body, the World: It’s R. Crumb’s Bible Now
Among the most surprising things about underground comics master R. Crumb’s new illustration of the first book of the Hebrew Bible is not only how straight he plays the visual translation, but also the affinity between his own sensibility and the fleshly materiality of Genesis.
The Gospel of Contradiction: An Interview with Mary Gordon
Why is the character of Jesus so powerful? Why is he such a hit? Bestselling writer Mary Gordon re-reads the Gospels, asking these questions, among others, and trying to figure out why fundamentalist readings of scripture, grounded in fear and rage, have come to dominate the understanding of religion in this country.
The Conservative Bible Project: Looking for Conservative Diamonds in a Liberal Dung-Hill
Andy Schlafly, son of Phyllis, wants to claim the Christian scriptures for conservatism. Why rewrite the Bible? Well, as everyone knows, Jesus is a pretty liberal dude. And everyone knows that “young girl” in Greek was really a euphemism for “bimbo.”
Weird Testament: The Bible Gets the R. Crumb Treatment
Legendary underground comics artist R. Crumb has produced a surprisingly reverent Book of Genesis. For real grotesquerie, you need to look back to the Bible of Basil Wolverton, an evangelical illustrator whose work dwelt on the bizarre and violent.
Forgiveness? Social justice? Not in the new conservative Bible, where the “full free-market meaning” of the Good Book is now revealed.
What the new Conservative Bible Project fails to grasp is that the Bible’s not there to provide timeless certainty but to provoke arguments and unsettle what it is that we think we know.
When the director Roman Polanski sexual assaulted a 13-year-old, was it only US law he violated?
Revisiting Hagar, The Woman Who Named God
An interview with the author of a new book that takes a critical look at the biblical tale of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and sons, claiming that this story at the core of anxiety between religions isn’t exactly as it seems.
Prison Religion: Rehabilitation or Forced Conversion?
Prison and evangelical religion have been linked throughout US history; but when a faith-based rehabilitation program compels prisoners to memorize Bible verses, boundaries get blurred.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” GOP leaders immediately label this socialism.
God Grows Up: Robert Wright’s Evolution of God
In his newest book Robert Wright charts a path between atheism and belief, busting religion myths as he goes: Jesus did not preach universal love; Jews didn't start out as monotheists; and the origin of religion had nothing to do with morality.
The Christian Roots of the New Age: The Aquarian Gospel
In this 1908 retelling of the gospels, Jesus travels to India, Persia, and Greece, preaching of a “cord of love” that binds all humanity. What does The Aquarian Gospel have to teach us about Christianity, New Age religion, and the birth of the culture wars?
Economy Yields Too Few Prophets
Few mainstream journalists are truly capturing the reality of the economy in terms of the nation’s worst off. As of last month, the actual number of workers in crisis is not the 14 million but more like 29 million, or 18 percent of the total workforce. Where are the religious coalitions willing to challenge the president’s policies?
Disco-Reggae at Abu Ghraib: Music, the Bible and Torture
What does it mean when a country that likes to proclaim itself a defender of freedom plays a song about liberation to people it is torturing?
From a religious and biblical perspective, the sons of Isaac have long viewed the sons of Ishmael as potential enemies, and vice versa. Each side sees the other as the opponent in a battle for God’s single blessing. But—in fact—God invented the two-state solution in Genesis 21.
Megachurch pastor Rod Parsley took issue with a recent article on RD on biblical and ethical challenges to the death penalty. Its author responds...
Putting the “Protest” Back in Protestant: Reclaiming the Spirit of Resistance
Why has so much religious leadership come to look like “the bland leading the bland”? On the occasion of Pentecost, we present a romp through the wide range of Protestantisms, and answer the question: Why is that biblical book called “Acts” and not “Lazing About”?
The Defense Department Gospel and America’s Desert Crusade
Bush-era intelligence briefings featured cover pages subtitled with decontextualized and misunderstood scripture in deference to the piety of the administration. Where were the Christian and Jewish moderates, and why didn’t they denounce this extremism?
Tony Campolo admits that evangelical Christianity offers little to a lesbian or gay Christian—except loneliness, maybe.
In a recent speech on the the economy, Obama could have stressed biblical justice; instead he opted for a “post-partisan” emphasis on firm foundations and solidarity in common cause.
Will the Real Progressive Christians Please Stand Up?
A walk through recent Christian history—from the rise of evangelicalism, through neo-Orthodoxy, and on to Liberation theology—reveals the roots of the current debate among those who identify as progressives.
Pretty People, Shiny Clothes: Biblical Illiteracy in NBC’s Kings
Television fails once again to do justice to the complexity of biblical narrative.
Divine Inspiration: Kings Works Wonders
Drawn from the Bible, Kings takes a risk that pays off. Plus, we get Ian McShane.