Christian Century
@christiancentury.bsky.social
Thoughtful, Independent, Progressive
Website: christiancentury.org
Free email newsletters: christiancentury.org/newsletters
Website: christiancentury.org
Free email newsletters: christiancentury.org/newsletters
“Kristen Plinke Bentley’s goal is to raise up practices and perspectives that will help congregations and ministers involved in bivocational ministry to thrive.”
– review by Susan Willhauck
www.christiancentury.org/books/minist...
– review by Susan Willhauck
www.christiancentury.org/books/minist...
Ministry and other callings
Kristen Bentley’s research indicates that there is no single right way to be a bivocational...
www.christiancentury.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM
“Kristen Plinke Bentley’s goal is to raise up practices and perspectives that will help congregations and ministers involved in bivocational ministry to thrive.”
– review by Susan Willhauck
www.christiancentury.org/books/minist...
– review by Susan Willhauck
www.christiancentury.org/books/minist...
“Now is no time to be passive or silent. We need to say how our theological vision of people—as children of God made in the divine image and as sinners graced with possibilities for good—illumines politics and the workings and organization of critical institutions.”
– Douglas F. Ottati
– Douglas F. Ottati
This political moment demands theology
As Christians, we need to protest authoritarianism and support the people it targets. We also need to underscore the deep foundations of this...
www.christiancentury.org
December 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
“Now is no time to be passive or silent. We need to say how our theological vision of people—as children of God made in the divine image and as sinners graced with possibilities for good—illumines politics and the workings and organization of critical institutions.”
– Douglas F. Ottati
– Douglas F. Ottati
“The pulpit Bible reminds us that we are people of the book. We derive our existence in communion with the Holy Spirit, who incorporates us into Christ’s life . . ."
– @isaacvillegas.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/heft-...
– @isaacvillegas.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/heft-...
People of the book
As I pressed my sermon’s pages across the pulpit Bible’s valley, I couldn’t keep them from sliding into the groove.
www.christiancentury.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:07 PM
“The pulpit Bible reminds us that we are people of the book. We derive our existence in communion with the Holy Spirit, who incorporates us into Christ’s life . . ."
– @isaacvillegas.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/heft-...
– @isaacvillegas.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/heft-...
“It is fair to raise questions about the particulars of Mamdani’s policy initiatives or approach to governance. But we cannot allow negative tropes about his Muslim heritage to seep into our civic discourse.”
– the Christian Century editors
www.christiancentury.org/editors/new-...
– the Christian Century editors
www.christiancentury.org/editors/new-...
New York’s Muslim mayor
The spotlight on Zohran Mamdani’s campaign also illuminated a pervasive fear of the other in our political...
www.christiancentury.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:59 PM
“It is fair to raise questions about the particulars of Mamdani’s policy initiatives or approach to governance. But we cannot allow negative tropes about his Muslim heritage to seep into our civic discourse.”
– the Christian Century editors
www.christiancentury.org/editors/new-...
– the Christian Century editors
www.christiancentury.org/editors/new-...
“I want to live already in the future of all my beautiful things—the yarn in the crates transformed into the sweater I have planned for them, . . . books with my name on them ranged up on the shelf, my city calm and quiet.”
– @olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/pract...
– @olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/pract...
Practicing patience in difficult times
I want to be able to take my days and transform them into beauty. This fall in Chicago, it has felt like time is running...
www.christiancentury.org
December 5, 2025 at 11:06 PM
“I want to live already in the future of all my beautiful things—the yarn in the crates transformed into the sweater I have planned for them, . . . books with my name on them ranged up on the shelf, my city calm and quiet.”
– @olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/pract...
– @olivalejandra.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/voices/pract...
“As I prepared my syllabus, I came to see the fascism question as a distraction. Antifascist writers from the last century do have much to teach us about our own moment, but not because far-right politics today is the same as it was then.”
– Mac Loftin
www.christiancentury.org/features/fas...
– Mac Loftin
www.christiancentury.org/features/fas...
Is fascism inherently Christian?
Antifascist writers of the last century grappled with the same bewilderment we do—and they made sense of their politics...
www.christiancentury.org
December 5, 2025 at 8:15 PM
“As I prepared my syllabus, I came to see the fascism question as a distraction. Antifascist writers from the last century do have much to teach us about our own moment, but not because far-right politics today is the same as it was then.”
– Mac Loftin
www.christiancentury.org/features/fas...
– Mac Loftin
www.christiancentury.org/features/fas...
“We need, perhaps now more than ever, to wrestle with the brutality of Advent.”
– @ynpierce.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/adv...
– @ynpierce.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/adv...
Advent in all its terror
If we remove the difficult facts of history leading up to Jesus’ birth, the story loses its...
www.christiancentury.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
“We need, perhaps now more than ever, to wrestle with the brutality of Advent.”
– @ynpierce.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/adv...
– @ynpierce.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/adv...
“The musicians who decide to keep going aren’t doing so because they have some divination that they will magically avoid the brick wall this time. It’s because they can’t quit.”
- Julian DeShazier
www.christiancentury.org/voices/learn...
- Julian DeShazier
www.christiancentury.org/voices/learn...
Jesus was a traveling indie musician
Musicians never stop being musicians. I hope it’s the same for justice...
www.christiancentury.org
December 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
“The musicians who decide to keep going aren’t doing so because they have some divination that they will magically avoid the brick wall this time. It’s because they can’t quit.”
- Julian DeShazier
www.christiancentury.org/voices/learn...
- Julian DeShazier
www.christiancentury.org/voices/learn...
“Black autistic pastor and disability scholar @lamarhardwick.bsky.social shows how ideas around race and disability can cost people their lives.”
– review by Lilia Ellis
www.christiancentury.org/books/when-a...
@brazospress.bsky.social
– review by Lilia Ellis
www.christiancentury.org/books/when-a...
@brazospress.bsky.social
When ableism and racism intertwine
Black autistic pastor and disability scholar Lamar Hardwick shows how ideas around race and disability can cost people their...
www.christiancentury.org
December 4, 2025 at 6:21 PM
“Black autistic pastor and disability scholar @lamarhardwick.bsky.social shows how ideas around race and disability can cost people their lives.”
– review by Lilia Ellis
www.christiancentury.org/books/when-a...
@brazospress.bsky.social
– review by Lilia Ellis
www.christiancentury.org/books/when-a...
@brazospress.bsky.social
Reposted by Christian Century
Love this analysis from Jen Kaalund.
"Memory binds us together and helps us become who we aspire to be. But it only does this when we remember the real and complicated stories."
"Memory binds us together and helps us become who we aspire to be. But it only does this when we remember the real and complicated stories."
“Just as the Roman elite made efforts to systematize the erasure of an unwanted past—to create the illusion of a pure one—so the legislatures across our country are attempting to do the same.”
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
Before cancel culture, there was damnatio memoriae
Rome’s political erasures were a precursor to today’s contested US...
www.christiancentury.org
December 4, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Love this analysis from Jen Kaalund.
"Memory binds us together and helps us become who we aspire to be. But it only does this when we remember the real and complicated stories."
"Memory binds us together and helps us become who we aspire to be. But it only does this when we remember the real and complicated stories."
“As an experiment, I decided to pick one dish that was emblematic of potluck foods and consider it in light of its theology. Impossible cheeseburger pie is recorded for posterity in a cookbook called Seminary Cooking.”
– Amy Frykholm
www.christiancentury.org/features/the...
– Amy Frykholm
www.christiancentury.org/features/the...
A theology of impossible cheeseburger pie
A seminary cookbook from 1984 led me to revisit the potlucks—and the beliefs—of my midwestern...
www.christiancentury.org
December 4, 2025 at 4:25 PM
“As an experiment, I decided to pick one dish that was emblematic of potluck foods and consider it in light of its theology. Impossible cheeseburger pie is recorded for posterity in a cookbook called Seminary Cooking.”
– Amy Frykholm
www.christiancentury.org/features/the...
– Amy Frykholm
www.christiancentury.org/features/the...
“Just as the Roman elite made efforts to systematize the erasure of an unwanted past—to create the illusion of a pure one—so the legislatures across our country are attempting to do the same.”
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
Before cancel culture, there was damnatio memoriae
Rome’s political erasures were a precursor to today’s contested US...
www.christiancentury.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM
“Just as the Roman elite made efforts to systematize the erasure of an unwanted past—to create the illusion of a pure one—so the legislatures across our country are attempting to do the same.”
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
– Jennifer Kaalund
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...
“Bad Bunny’s music and activism have reconnected me to roots I thought were severed beyond repair. His lyrics call me home.”
– Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
www.christiancentury.org/features/son...
– Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
www.christiancentury.org/features/son...
I was elated when Bad Bunny was announced
I will be sitting on my couch on Super Bowl Sunday, ready to cry “Wepa!”
www.christiancentury.org
December 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
“Bad Bunny’s music and activism have reconnected me to roots I thought were severed beyond repair. His lyrics call me home.”
– Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
www.christiancentury.org/features/son...
– Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
www.christiancentury.org/features/son...
“Maybe in this Advent season waiting isn’t hoping for the end of this terror but attending to the moment when God asks us to join our voice and our life—in all their limitations—to create a little beauty.”
– Brian Bantum
www.christiancentury.org/voices/i-kee...
– Brian Bantum
www.christiancentury.org/voices/i-kee...
I keep listening for the chorus
My partial hearing loss is teaching me about Advent waiting and finding my place in God’s...
www.christiancentury.org
December 3, 2025 at 4:09 PM
“Maybe in this Advent season waiting isn’t hoping for the end of this terror but attending to the moment when God asks us to join our voice and our life—in all their limitations—to create a little beauty.”
– Brian Bantum
www.christiancentury.org/voices/i-kee...
– Brian Bantum
www.christiancentury.org/voices/i-kee...
“So what was this mystery, this desire, preying on my mind, coming back to me years later? Dare I imagine that my sudden burst of insight, coming on a winter night in the wilderness, constituted a singularity—a unique, world-changing moment?”
– Belden Lane
www.christiancentury.org/features/nig...
– Belden Lane
www.christiancentury.org/features/nig...
The night the universe looked back at me
Sometimes we glimpse magnificence in common occurrences. Science stumbles into poetry. We get a taste of...
www.christiancentury.org
December 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM
“So what was this mystery, this desire, preying on my mind, coming back to me years later? Dare I imagine that my sudden burst of insight, coming on a winter night in the wilderness, constituted a singularity—a unique, world-changing moment?”
– Belden Lane
www.christiancentury.org/features/nig...
– Belden Lane
www.christiancentury.org/features/nig...
“It was just a coincidence that I was singing a Newsboys song with @flamygrant.bandcamp.com the night I would learn about Michael Tait’s misdeeds. But I think there’s something important in the contrast between these two artists.”
– @mwatsonfore.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/sin...
– @mwatsonfore.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/sin...
Singing the Newsboys with Flamy Grant
The musician and drag queen is an exvangelical who came to see that holding on to a theology of self-loathing was just too...
www.christiancentury.org
December 2, 2025 at 9:17 PM
“It was just a coincidence that I was singing a Newsboys song with @flamygrant.bandcamp.com the night I would learn about Michael Tait’s misdeeds. But I think there’s something important in the contrast between these two artists.”
– @mwatsonfore.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/sin...
– @mwatsonfore.bsky.social
www.christiancentury.org/features/sin...
“Sean Dempsey tells the story of liberal Christians—Protestant and Catholic, Black and White and Latino—who fought for justice in late 20th-century Los Angeles.”
– review by Heath W. Carter:
www.christiancentury.org/books/social...
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
– review by Heath W. Carter:
www.christiancentury.org/books/social...
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
The social gospel of the streets
Sean Dempsey traces the moral imagination that guided faith-based activists in Los Angeles through five decades of justice...
www.christiancentury.org
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
“Sean Dempsey tells the story of liberal Christians—Protestant and Catholic, Black and White and Latino—who fought for justice in late 20th-century Los Angeles.”
– review by Heath W. Carter:
www.christiancentury.org/books/social...
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
– review by Heath W. Carter:
www.christiancentury.org/books/social...
@uchicagopress.bsky.social
“The Divine has lovingly broken into every corner of the cosmos … Or so I have blithely claimed, never needing until now to ponder the possibility that ‘every corner’ might include not just the mysterious depths of the oceans but also my buzzy thumbs, aching palms, and frozen toes.”
– Debie Thomas
– Debie Thomas
Christ in my nerve endings
Living with chronic pain is deepening my understanding of the...
www.christiancentury.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:06 PM
“The Divine has lovingly broken into every corner of the cosmos … Or so I have blithely claimed, never needing until now to ponder the possibility that ‘every corner’ might include not just the mysterious depths of the oceans but also my buzzy thumbs, aching palms, and frozen toes.”
– Debie Thomas
– Debie Thomas
“All of us, prophets included, usually must do it wrong many times before we can do it right.”
— Richard Rohr
www.christiancentury.org/books/weepin...
— Richard Rohr
www.christiancentury.org/books/weepin...
Weeping with the prophets
Richard Rohr begs readers to journey from anger to sadness to compassionate...
www.christiancentury.org
December 1, 2025 at 9:27 PM
“All of us, prophets included, usually must do it wrong many times before we can do it right.”
— Richard Rohr
www.christiancentury.org/books/weepin...
— Richard Rohr
www.christiancentury.org/books/weepin...
“If you’re as tired of this militant Christianity as I am, my word to you is simple: Christmas is waiting for you.”
– Peter W. Marty
www.christiancentury.org/first-words/...
– Peter W. Marty
www.christiancentury.org/first-words/...
I’m dreaming of a disarmed faith
In the Bethlehem cattle stall, no coercion is in the air. No imposition of...
www.christiancentury.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:08 PM
“If you’re as tired of this militant Christianity as I am, my word to you is simple: Christmas is waiting for you.”
– Peter W. Marty
www.christiancentury.org/first-words/...
– Peter W. Marty
www.christiancentury.org/first-words/...
“A man who once idolized the politics of privacy and conservatism spent his influence in his late years rallying for Civil Rights, for nuclear disarmament, for the eradication of poverty.”
– @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social on Norman Rockwell
www.christiancentury.org/features/roc...
– @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social on Norman Rockwell
www.christiancentury.org/features/roc...
Rockwell the activist
The US government is deploying Norman Rockwell’s paintings of idealized American life as propaganda. Those who are preserving his legacy are not...
www.christiancentury.org
December 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
“A man who once idolized the politics of privacy and conservatism spent his influence in his late years rallying for Civil Rights, for nuclear disarmament, for the eradication of poverty.”
– @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social on Norman Rockwell
www.christiancentury.org/features/roc...
– @lizcharlottegrant.bsky.social on Norman Rockwell
www.christiancentury.org/features/roc...
David Zahl focuses on sharing a gospel that’s unapologetically about the grace of God.
Katherine Willis Pershey reviews The Big Relief: www.christiancentury.org/books/relief...
Katherine Willis Pershey reviews The Big Relief: www.christiancentury.org/books/relief...
November 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
David Zahl focuses on sharing a gospel that’s unapologetically about the grace of God.
Katherine Willis Pershey reviews The Big Relief: www.christiancentury.org/books/relief...
Katherine Willis Pershey reviews The Big Relief: www.christiancentury.org/books/relief...
Looking for some great gifts for the booklovers in your life? Here are the top recommendations from our editors and staff.
www.christiancentury.org/features/gif...
www.christiancentury.org/features/gif...
Gifts you can read
What can we say? We love...
www.christiancentury.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Looking for some great gifts for the booklovers in your life? Here are the top recommendations from our editors and staff.
www.christiancentury.org/features/gif...
www.christiancentury.org/features/gif...
“From the start, Norman Rockwell’s Freedom from Want was meant to be in conversation with Filipino activist Carlos Bulosan’s reminder that freedom means little if some are kept from the table.”
– Julene Tegerstrand
www.christiancentury.org/features/tal...
– Julene Tegerstrand
www.christiancentury.org/features/tal...
A tale of two Thanksgivings
Two adjacent items in a 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post highlight the conflict—and joy—inherent in our mythic...
www.christiancentury.org
November 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
“From the start, Norman Rockwell’s Freedom from Want was meant to be in conversation with Filipino activist Carlos Bulosan’s reminder that freedom means little if some are kept from the table.”
– Julene Tegerstrand
www.christiancentury.org/features/tal...
– Julene Tegerstrand
www.christiancentury.org/features/tal...
In our latest On Art column, art and culture professor Yohana Junker discusses two pieces by Australian painter Jo Bertini, who is known for the vivid palette and gestural brushwork of her landscape paintings.
www.christiancentury.org/art/jo-berti...
www.christiancentury.org/art/jo-berti...
Jo Bertini’s Reading a Fathom of Sand (left) and Taken by the Sky (right)
Jo Bertini’s career has been shaped by deserts across the globe, and the Australian painter (and art educator and writer) infuses her canvases with a sense of reverence and intimacy. Known for her viv...
www.christiancentury.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
In our latest On Art column, art and culture professor Yohana Junker discusses two pieces by Australian painter Jo Bertini, who is known for the vivid palette and gestural brushwork of her landscape paintings.
www.christiancentury.org/art/jo-berti...
www.christiancentury.org/art/jo-berti...