This spring a certain Christian layperson has been criticized for not exiting his local church when he disagreed with something his pastor preached. With tongue firming in his cheek, Martin Marty offers some useful tips on when you should leave your church.
“Prince Caspian,” which is based on Lewis’ “Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia,” published in 1951, features a few inspired touches, and the four principal child and young-adult actors of the earlier picture — just a little older now — reprise their roles here. Yet the human characters come off as afterthoughts, figures that are moved around clumsily in the thicket of the movie’s sprawling narrative.
Aaolescents who valued power (trying to attain social status by controlling and dominating others) reported more violent behavior than their peers. Teenagers who valued universalism (promoting understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protecting the welfare of all people and nature) and those who valued conformity (limiting actions and urges that might violate social expectations and norms) reported less violent behavior than their peers.
What is god but Creator? What is creating but reaching out? What is reaching out but connecting beyond self? What is connecting beyond self but loving others?
The feast of the Holy Trinity is unique to the Anglican communion. Originating in Spain in the early Middle Ages, spreading through the Gallican church in France, it survived only in England. This festival of the triune God is dedicated not to the commemoration of an event such as Christmas and Easter, nor to a person such as a saint, but to a theological doctrine.
Sometimes, things become valuable and historic because they were mistakes: the Inverted Jenny, for instance, is a postage stamp that’s legendary because the airplane in its center pane is upside down. Similarly, the Vinegar Bible is so named because of numerous typographical errors in its print run that include referring to the “Parable of the Vineyard” as the “Parable of the Vinegar.”
Bishop Gene Robinson has taken plenty of flak during the past five years, but according to what he says in a new video post on the Religion and Ethics Newsweekly blog–probably an extra take from last week’s feature on him–he’s gotten the most grief for endorsing a candidate during the primary season earlier this year.
Earlier this year, author Karen Armstrong addressed TED conference participants with a plea for the world to embrace the Golden Rule as called for by faith traditions. Her speech was part of TED’s annual conference, which features more than 50 keynotes from influential thinkers and leaders that are then distributed online over the course of the year.
Andrea Useem recently attended a service at the Second Life church that’s tied in with an evangelical church 2.0 mission that’s launching later this year. In a recent blog post, she likens the service itself to another real-life evangelical service she’d recently attended. In fact, the similarities—and the surprising differences—make up a compelling critique that gives insight on how churches can and should be taking advantage of the platform, rather than building an “in-world” church and hoping people come
The Washington Post today examines the downsizing and program-trimming trend among Episcopal seminaries, noting a correlation between that trend and the dynamics within the denomination. But the more likely causal factor, the article continues, is, quite simply, money.