public life

Image via /Shutterstock.com

"The Reformation gave at least a segment of Christians access to the Bible in a way that hadn’t happened before. Most of our history has been a rather Bible-less Christianity that was dictated or defined mostly by the hierarchical church, not by people who read the Bible. … We gained the freedom to approach it, and then in the current age, we have ceded that exploration to media, to entertainment forms, to prepackaged interpretations that are delivered in video, audio and pulpit forms so that there’s a substitute Bible that isn’t the Bible, per se, at the same time that people aren’t reading."

7-21-2014
In a recent article for TIME, Jim Wallis asks: Whatever Happened to the Common Good? Wallis notes: The common good has origins in the beginnings of Christianity. An early church father, John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), once wrote: “This is the rule of most perfect Christianity, its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good . . . for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for his neighbors.
5-22-2014
In his book, The Great Awakening (2008), Jim Wallis notes that the most common biblical support for an exclusive focus on internal piety is Jesus’s statement in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world.” The assumption is that this means God is not concerned about this world but rather on interior and other-worldly matters. Wallis suggests that such a conclusion is not warranted. He notes that Jesus’ kingdom is not “of” this world in the sense that it is not “from” this realm. This is corroborated in the final part of the verse which says, “But now my kingdom is from another place.” Perhaps the Phillips translation says it best with “My kingdom is not founded in this world.”
Duane Shank 1-02-2012
Pinetop Perkins via Wylio: http://bit.ly/tCKyOF

Pinetop Perkins via Wylio: http://bit.ly/tCKyOF

It’s good to start a new year by remembering those who passed in the just concluded year.  These aren’t the most famous (or infamous), and I didn’t know them personally (or, at best, had met several briefly), but their lives touched mine in three of my passions: American roots music, politics and public life, and baseball.

the Web Editors 10-04-2011

ev churchWhat are "the evangelicals," you ask?

Certainly not a political or ideological monolith, as recent polling and survey numbers demonstrate.

Here is a compilation of some recent statistics related to evangelicals and their political, spiritual and ideological habits.

Duane Shank 9-22-2011
[caption id="attachment_33860" align="alignright" width="169" caption="Sen. Charles Percy"][/caption]
Brian McLaren 6-29-2011
Although I've never been a Southern Baptist, I have a special place in my heart for them.
Duane Shank 1-20-2011
The calls for a more civil discourse in our public life spurred by the shooting in http://blog.sojo.net/tag/arizona/" targe
George Mitrovich 1-19-2011
Sargent Shriver was one of the most attractive, dynamic, and accomplished men of his time. When President John F. Kennedy chose Mr.
One of the great things about Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa is the space to make ne
My wife Sarah and I recently moved to Baltimore and are knee-deep in that time-honored tradition of relocation: church shopping.
Jim Wallis 3-11-2010

As some of you may know, I served on President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships for year one of his administration. Our one-year term is almost up, and yesterday we issued our final report to key members of the administration.

LaVonne Neff 12-09-2009

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
--William Butler Yeats, from "The Second Coming"

Brian McLaren 9-03-2009
Fans (and critics) of either man should read this speech -- from the late Sen. Kennedy, delivered back in 1983 at the late Jerry Falwell's (now) Liberty University.
Brian McLaren 7-23-2009
This Seattle Times article on the current state of the Religious Right union

Dick Cheney is a strange creature. For public consumption he is the cool, principled champion of the American people willing to take hard public stands on their behalf.

Jim Wallis 5-18-2009
After weeks of controversy surrounding Notre Dame's invitation to President Obama to receive an honorary doctorate as this year's commencement speaker, we have seen both the American democratic tra
Kevin Lum 5-08-2009
Historically, the number of individuals who say they have no religious affiliation in America ranges between 5-10%, but a new poll conducted by Robert Putnam (of http://www.amazon.com/gp/p