Caritas de libertati: A People of Hope
Surely you’ve heard the Good News: We Have a Pope. What do you make of it all? So far I’ve heard many different opinions on the matter. Some are excited, but I would say a large majority of those in my circles are fairly upset. While many feel positively towards the fact Pope Francis I [...]
Reviewing Project Conversion by Andrew Bowen
I have always held a singular fascination for the spiritual life—perhaps it is due to my generally introverted nature and love of study as a spiritual practice—but the path of the seeker, and the raw, unmediated chronicling of the spiritual journey is one to which I relate deeply, if at times vicariously. It was thus [...]
Losing Your Religion? Keep the Faith!
In Terence Nichol’s 2003 book The Sacred Cosmos: Christian Faith and the Challenge of Naturalism he begins with an anecdote where two sets of Catholic children are asked the question “Where is God?” One, a group from the West, and another, a group from the East, answered very differently. The children raised in the West [...]
Can Preaching be Prophetic and Pastoral?
A few weeks ago I was sitting in a preaching workshop listening to a series of sermons on the same text. Most of the sermons were a lot alike, but one of them was a little different. It was about a certain social issue. Exactly what the issue was isn’t really relevant, but suffice to [...]
#King: Who’s the Man with the Master Plan?
April 26th, 1992: there was a riot on the streets. Tell me, where were you? You were sitting home watching your TV… while I was participating in some anarchy. – Sublime – I had only just turned five years old some weeks before this. It was before I had entered kindergarten, which occurred the next [...]
Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies
This is a note from our colleagues and friends at the Russell Berrie Foundation. We think it is a wonderful fellowship program and opportunity. Please share it widely among your contacts. We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies for the academic year 2013-14. The initiative, [...]
Hillary and Michelle: Urban Dancing and the Metaphysics of the Home
“If you can’t control your own house, how will you be able to control the White House?” – Michelle Obama, 2007 presidential campaign speech The word “economy” descends from the ancient Greek word oikonomia, meaning ‘law of the home.’ Whereas the market can be considered to be an institution whose main task is the preservation and [...]
From Inclusion to Integration
This month, the Jewish community is marking Jewish Disability Awareness Month, as it has since February 2008. Throughout February, congregations and communal organizations of all stripes will be holding programs, special prayer services, text studies and the like, all with the overarching goal of raising awareness about issues and concerns that people with disabilities face [...]
V-Day: A Universal Love Story?
When Valentine’s Day rolls around each year, why do you celebrate? I was sitting in class the other day and I glanced over at a fellow student’s daily planner. She was looking at the following week and on the 14th there was a big headline which said: “GROSS.” Is it? I know why she thinks [...]
A Woman is Acquired
“A woman is acquired [in marriage] in three ways…by money, by document, or by intercourse.” This is how the first mishnah in the tractate Kiddushin begins. In just this sentence alone we gain a window into how women were seen in the world of the rabbis. As each subsequent generation—from the Talmudic sages of 600 CE to 20th century feminist scholars—probe this Mishnah, the meaning of this statement is investigated, challenged, and, ultimately, transformed.
Contributing Scholars
Seth WaxSeth Wax is a third-year student at Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Newton, MA. He attended Harvard Divinity School and completed a degree in Buddhist Studies and is currently studying in Jerusalem.
Matt HelmsMatt Helms is graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary and is currently working as a pastoral resident at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. He is an active blogger and a fan of all things writing.
Nicole EdineNicole Edine is a recent graduate from New York University with a Masters in Religious Studies. Her academic interests include South Asian religions in diaspora, American religion and identity, and sacred spaces and objects.