Nature, Grace, and Adoption Abigail Woolley Cutter March 6, 2020 Books, Ethics, Reviews & Culture, The Episcopal Church Since it is small, accessible, and thoroughly theological, it would be an excellent resource for beginning a conversation on adoption and assisted reproduction among pastors or seminary students, who may be asked to counsel other Christians.
Toni Morrison’s Beloved: A Retrospective Review and Contemporary Application John Mason Lock February 25, 2020 Books, Commentary, Contributors, Reviews & Culture, The Episcopal Church For Black History Month I have been revisiting the works of Toni Morrison, especially what is arguably her greatest novel, Beloved, a kind of literary reflection on the traumas of slavery.
“A Merry Heart Goes All the Day”: Why I’m Reading Walter Scott Chip Prehn February 10, 2020 Books, Commentary, Contributors, Reviews & Culture, The Episcopal Church Scott invests many of his characters with moral goodness and, occasionally, holiness. His heroes and heroines are inspiring. The sheer degradedness and badness of his anti-heroes leaves the strongest impression. The novels are above all about character.
Bibles for the Ages Wesley Hill September 24, 2019 Bible, Books, Reviews & Culture, The Episcopal Church Sometimes I want to sit down to read the Bible in well-wrought English, within a book that is well-made, and on pages that are admirably formatted and presented. Those are all features that help me concentrate on what I believe to be the Word of God.
Taught by Strange Words Mark Michael September 10, 2019 Commentary, Editorial, The Episcopal Church Sometimes a strange word in a Bible reading or a liturgical text may be a stumbling block to one “almost persuaded” (Acts 26:28). We discover new things in old texts, or hear words intended for building up used only to tear down. Just how much time do we have to explain in an age of shortened attention spans and sporadic Sunday attendance?
Jim Thompson and the Killer Inside Us All Guest Contributor September 6, 2019 Books, Commentary, Orthodox Church, Reviews & Culture We prefer to think that evil is something “bad people” do, and that these bad people are easily recognizable. We see a mug shot on the news and say “Oh, he looks like a child molester, like a mass shooter, like a serial killer, like a bad person. Or as often as not today we think of evil as that perpetrated only by our political opposites. We describe such people as “inhuman” or “deplorable”, descriptors that gives us the relief of distance. The guise evil wears is, of course, always that of someone else.
Rethinking Ethics in Deuteronomy Guest Contributor August 6, 2019 Books, Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, Reviews & Culture It is doubtful whether any devoted student of Old Testament can fully explain, let alone justify, the justice and ways of God portrayed in the Book of Deuteronomy. However, it must also be said that Cook’s commentary clarifies many of issues at stake and does so with striking insight, grace, and wisdom.
The Virtues of Horror Sam Keyes August 5, 2019 Books, Commentary, Roman Catholic Church There is a deep mysticism at the heart of the Dark Tower books — the quest to find the heart of reality and the determination to see it for what it is despite all the hurt and pain along the way.
