Mark LeVine writes that the Christian Peacemaker Teams, several members of which are currently being held hostage in Iraq, are a model of what the anti-war movement should be about. (See Leaving Muenster for updates on the CPT hostages.)

That’s what Miroslav Volf asks about the rhetoric of the Christian Right (and Left).

Lutheran theologian Ted Peters states the obvious (or, at least I always thought it was pretty obvious): I hang out with those so-called theistic evolutionists. We tend to think scientists are pretty smart. In fact, many of my colleagues are research scientists, even evolutionary biologists. We are convinced that the neo-Darwinian model of random genetic…

The story that several of the larger evangelical megachurches are opting not to have services on Christmas this year has been making the rounds, provoking quite a bit of outrage that they are selling out to the culture and promoting an “idolatry of the family” (see this Internet Monk post for a good collection of…

From Slate (via the Japery): A study says people who have one alcoholic drink a day are 54 percent less obesity-prone than teetotalers are. (But those with four or more drinks a day are 46 percent more obesity-prone.) Another study indicates that among people who weigh too much or drink too much alcohol, those who…

In addition to having a reputation for generosity and gift-giving, St. Nicholas (of Myrna) is said to have put the smack down on heresy – literally – at the Council of Nicea. According to legend, jolly ‘ol St. Nick clocked Arius in the face for denying Jesus’ divinity! According to Wikipedia: Nicholas was kicked out…

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast…

Today I saw a book on the bargain shelf of the local bookstore called The Secret Sayings of Jesus. Turns out it was just a translation of the Gospel of Thomas, but it made me wonder how much of the demand for “secret,” “hidden,” “gnostic” or esoteric information about and/or teachings of Jesus is really…

Really interesting profile of baptist preacher and gadfly Will D. Campbell. He marched with Martin Luther King and escorted black children into desegregated schools, has ministered to Ku Klux Klansmen and country singers like Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, and lambastes the Southern Baptist leadership for their support of war and the death penalty. When…

Lately I’ve been reading Leo Tolstoy’s Resurrection. The novel, Tolstoy’s last, is about a dissolute Russina nobleman named Dmitri Ivanovitch Nekhludoff who undergoes a kind of spiritual reawakening when he encounters a woman he had wronged in his youth. She’s a defendant in a criminal trial in which he is sitting as a juror, and…