Gospel Book of Otto III c. 1000 Manuscript (Clm. 4453), 334 x 242 mm Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich This is another miniature from the Gospels of Otto III (folio 139r). It shows St Luke with a piles of manuscripts in his lap (their bindings studded with jewels) exalting all the Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. Web gallery of art image: https://www.wga.hu/html_m/zgothic/miniatur/1001-050/1/1gospel5.html

I love this photo of Saint Luke with piles of manuscripts in his lap from the Gospel Book of Otto III (c. 1000 CE)
(Manuscript (Clm. 4453), Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich). Probably projection, but he looks traumatized by all the reading he still needs to do before the end of the semester.

By law, the mayor of Bethlehem has to be a Christian. I talked to him about what it’s like for Palestinian Christians today:

Honestly the only way to go back through the ruins

The massacre that never ends The brief biblical account of Herod’s slaughter of the innocents raises the question of what faith demands when politics fails to stop the...

What is the role of theology in a time of war? It’s a question of last resort, driven by an unavoidable feeling that political opposition to this war is a dead end. If political avenues for resistance are closed, might there remain religious avenues?
www.christiancentury.org/online-colum...

Trump's War on Iran Isn't About Armageddon, It’s the First Meme War On Monday, two days after the U.S. and Israel carried out a series of attacks on Iran—dubbed “Operation Epic Fury” by the U.S. and “Operation Roaring Lion” by Israel—reports began circulating of comma...

Must read. “We can’t understand the [Iran] attacks…without situating it in an algorithmic culture geared toward performing for an online audience…While Christian rhetoric…often does participate…the main message…is more about transgressing norms and showing domination” @laurenhorngriffin.bsky.social

The bombing of Iran cannot be justified Even if you think there are Just Wars, this isn’t one of them.

The church cannot bless war | The Christian Century

My queer, infertile fatherhood Last Lent, I found myself reckoning with the concept of failure—and beginning to understand the power of standing in suffering with...

“Scars I’d almost forgotten, cut by the conviction that I’d failed God’s design, opened again, seeping corrosive doubts about virility, procreation, and succession. The story I thought I’d been given to tell—of God’s love made manifest in my queer family—was being rewritten.”

– Mario Koym-Garza

“Louise Fago-Ruskin turned to the camera in her 30s in order to document and analyze her life in a moment of profound rupture as she left a fundamentalist church where she had been a dedicated member for two decades.”

– Art commentary from Aaron Rosen: www.christiancentury.org/art/louise-f...

Thanks for writing it, Michelle!

My review of Udi Greenberg’s The End of the Schism is out in @christiancentury.bsky.social: www.christiancentury.org/books/when-e...

"I have not given up hope that mainline congregations could serve as the community-building, justice-seeking, emotionally safe places that many exvangelical millennials are searching for. " @lizcoolj.bsky.social

When the Lunar New Year, Lent, and Ramadan converge The February moon is capacious enough for carnival, lion dances, and taraweeh prayers; for dumplings, dates, and king...

“The February moon is capacious enough for carnival, lion dances, and taraweeh prayers; for dumplings, dates, and king cake. For those of us who navigate multiple cultural and religious calendars, such calendar collisions are a cosmic invitation.”

– Celene Ibrahim

Danced religion at halftime The stage was set for a direct confrontation at the Super Bowl. Instead, Bad Bunny created a liturgy for...

The stage was set for a direct confrontation at the Super Bowl. Instead, Bad Bunny created a liturgy for belonging.

New essay from Ricky Padilla:
www.christiancentury.org/features/dan...

There is nothing better than seeing a cop that abused you look confused as all your charges are dropped. It is just *chef's kiss* - only problem is I wanted the whole world to see that bodycam footage. That's probably why they dropped my charges. Shutting down #Broadview is a religious obligation!

What we could not see as beautiful When I told my reading group we’d be looking at one of Brian Staveley’s dark fantasy novels alongside Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology, they...

Art always represents something passing away: Beauty “is everywhere and appears as if clothed in death.” Lyle Enright on reading trash, Balthasar, and Anne Michelle Carpenter @catholickungfu.bsky.social

www.christiancentury.org/features/wha...

I’ve been thinking about this more, and it seems to me that the ecclesial-political stance Barron takes here and elsewhere is very similar to that of conservative Latin American bishops in the 1980s and 1990s.

BISHOP BARRON: Minnesota’s crises demand real change, not more division Bishop calls for unity against Minnesota fraud scandal involving hundreds of millions allegedly stolen from taxpayers, while urging calm amid ICE enforcement tensions.

Folks, the Bishop of Winona Rochester had opinions and now you all are going to hear about it.

It is rare that you get to read the actual letter that someone penned selling their soul to evil, but here is one in it’s full in Fox News

www.foxnews.com/opinion/bish...

Here in Minneapolis, hundreds of clergy from all over the country have been deployed into the streets to participate in ICE/DHS watch.

The hail from a range of religious traditions, and have come from all over.

This particular group is in a heavily immigrant neighborhood.

Important to know that Armstrong is a reverend and that she and the protesters felt compelled by faith as well their commitment to civil rights.

This is the state choosing which Christians they will support and which part of the 1A they will defend.

Christian nationalism in action.

they're response to Kate Bush is my all time fave

The heaving, howling, rolling, jumping ecstasy of Ann Lee I know “Shaker musical” sounds like a prompt at a bad improv class. But Mona Fastvold’s new film is wild and...

“In a way that can only be seen to be believed, the dancing and singing are the beating heart of the film, and the deepest expression of Shaker spirituality.”

– Kathryn Reklis

www.christiancentury.org/screen-time/...

2025 was a financially rough year.

If you value my voice and work and can afford to do so, please take out a paid subscription to The Bugbear Dispatch (now on Ghost!).

If you can’t afford it, I get it. I can’t afford all the subscriptions I want either!

Sharing is also a big help. Thanks!

When religion joins the UFO conversation “The nexus of religion, technology, and culture is more interrelated than most people assume,” says professor and filmmaker Brett...

“If the internet were to break down tomorrow, what would we do? These are the sort of cataclysmic consequences that are only rivaled by something like religion, something apocalyptic.”

– Brett Robinson, in an interview by @jessicamesman.bsky.social

www.christiancentury.org/interviews/r...

The rise of Teilhard de Chardin Frank and Mary Frost, the filmmakers behind a recent PBS documentary about the Jesuit paleontologist, have long seen him as a true...

“The key insight into Teilhard’s theory of evolution as opposed to the Darwinian theory is that it's ultimately the evolution of consciousness.”

– Frank and Mary Frost, in an interview with @jessicamesman.bsky.social

www.christiancentury.org/interviews/s...