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Articles by John D. Rosenberg
A solution to evangelicalism’s PR problem?
Evangelicals are in the midst of a PR crisis—which is ironic, considering the term evangelical first caught on in the United States a response to another PR crisis. When the fundamentalists lost out at the Scopes trial in 1925, becoming the laughingstock of the American public, embattled conservatives rebranded. From the harsh intolerance of “fundamentalism” was born the milder “evangelicalism.” The scowls of William Bell Riley were traded for the sunny smiles of Billy Graham.
Essays by readers: Seam
Up and down the whole length of the aisle [James Muilenburg] would stride as he chanted the war songs, the taunt songs, the dirges of ancient Israel. With his body stiff, his knees bent, his arms scarecrowed far to either side, he never merely taught the Old Testament but was the Old Testament. . . . I described him in a novel later, and when I showed him the typescript for his approval, he was appalled because it seemed to confirm his terrible fear that he was making a fool of himself.
Civil court cases test United Methodist governance
As a matter of church law, the season of disaffiliation in the United Methodist Church is over. However, legal disputes related to church property and other aspects of the UMC’s governance persist in civil courts across the US. The most recent development is Baltimore-Washington Conference’s September 20 announcement that it has filed a federal lawsuit against a church that removed its United Methodist identity.
Lectionary essay for October 4 Ordinary 27A Psalm 19
We raised our children in the suburbs of Washington, DC, a huge, blazing metropolis that shines all night long, erasing any view of the stars. Even on the darkest night, we could count only one, two, maybe five, maybe ten stars from our front stoop. So in summertime, when we visited my family’s cabin in the far north woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we had a ritual, starting from when our son and daughter were just toddlers.
DOJ asks appeals court to allow churches to endorse political candidates
Department of Justice lawyers have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court decision that kept an IRS ban on nonprofits endorsing candidates in place—the latest development in a decades-long battle over whether pastors and houses of worship should be allowed to endorse political candidates.
I mourned Annie Dillard as if I knew her personally
When I learned that writer Annie Dillard died, I did something I haven’t done since my dad died four years ago. I knelt on the floor and cried. I’m embarrassed to admit this. Dillard was not a relative of mine, not a steadfast friend. We exchanged letters once, decades ago, but we never spoke, never bonded over a cup of coffee. What exactly was I mourning as tears fell onto my jeans? I first encountered Dillard’s writing in 1994, as a seventh grader at writing camp.
A trustworthy word? (Matthew 21:23-32)
To receive these posts by email each Monday, sign up. For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century. He looked me in the eye, extended his hand, and asked, “Would I lie to you?” Because he was married to one of my dearest friends and I really wanted to believe him, I nodded. “I know you would never lie to me. Or my friend.” I immediately felt ashamed for having doubted him and his word.
“Cliffs of Fall”
“O the . . . mind has mountains . . . Hold them cheap; / May who ne’er hung there.” —Gerard Manley Hopkins Sometimes wilderness is not on a mountain or in the desert, but internal, storms in mind, heart, soul where there is no shelter nothing to which to cling when darkness descends. What was secure and steady, is no longer. Interior life becomes like trees in a hurricane: a wild waving of limbs one cannot fix or stop or make go away, must wait for it to blow over.
The price of virtue
Maybe affluent people—this author included—should reconsider the story of Job. Not the patient Job of James 5:11. Not even Job as an image of innocent suffering. No, let us consider a different aspect of Job, as he appears at the outset of the book that bears his name: as a man who is both virtuous and wealthy. This Job raises questions about how much virtue wealth can buy.
Sacred longing
He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream. . . . He worked hard to protect and provide for our family, to put me and my siblings through college. . . . She taught us that good things come to those who work hard. . . . I brought my son from Guatemala so that he could have a better life here in the United States. . . . I long for peace and the chance for my family to live and work in the United States without the constant fear of deportation.
The greatest poet of the 19th century (Published 1973)
March 18, 1973 Credit...The New York Times Archives See the article in its original context from March 18, 1973, Page 353Buy Reprints TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
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