Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

Text Messages

Steve Waldman has created an archive of inaugural prayers throughout history. In my first read through these prayers, which go back to the 1937 prayer at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration, I was struck by how rarely we see a confessional form of prayer. Lots of other forms are covered: intercession (praying for others), praise (thanking…

Reading N.D. Wilson’s account of his father’s public debates with Christopher Hitchens put me in mind of a certain kind of Christian I’ve met a few times, and always with a shock: intellectual Christians who don’t doubt.  As I explained to a commenter in the Mark Driscoll thread, I’ve rarely been without doubt in my experience…

Movie Mom blogger Neil Minow put together a list of the top Comfort Movies–flicks that go down just right on those no-good, crummy, sniffling, sneezing days. Not a bad list, and hard to quibble with something as idiosyncratic as this. But what are your favorite movies for days like that?  My five faves, in no…

That’s the apt headline over the New York Times Magazine’s profile of Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll. Fascinating story, not least because there is so much theology in it–Molly Worthen does a commendable job of summarizing Driscoll’s neo-Calvinism and capturing how a theology so severe can appeal to so many young people.  There is also much…

More from the NY Times Most Emailed List: This week, foodie extraordinaire Mark Bittman (author of my most-used cookbook, How to Cook Everything) has been at the top of the list for several days with his post about how to stock your pantry.  I mentioned earlier this week that my love for and understanding of…

This Beliefnet discussion on the OT and suffering is, of course of course, perennial and ancient and never-ending. But anyone who reads the Bible regularly has to face this question all the time. Is the Old Testament a record of suffering and Israel’s attempts to make sense of that suffering? Is it a record of God…

When she heard in church that she could tell people that Jesus was God:  “There’s NO WAY I’m doing that! People can just believe, but I’m not telling them!” Very Calvinist of her, no? 

So says a report released today. Seminarians might be having it, but they aren’t talking about it. The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing surveyed 36 seminaries and rabbinical schools, and found that ministers-to-be are woefully under-prepared for dealing with one of the most central issues in their congregants’ lives:  More than 90%…

That’s the top story on the NY Times Most Emailed List right now (another list that never fails to fascinate–subject for another post). Stanley Fish is a hugely influential literary and legal scholar, and I’ve long been an admirer–but Fish on film? And a Top 10 list to boot? I clicked expecting to snort.  But…

I read the food journalism of Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser for years, and considered myself someone who cared about the production and distribution of food. I strove to be aware of how meals found their way to my plate, and learned a little more about cooking each year.  But last summer, I read Barbara…
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners