Magazine

October 9, 2015

v.142 n.16

Article

The Coup at Catholic University

Peter Mitchell's take on Charles Curran and the "dissident theologian" strike at Catholic University in 1967 presents a conspiracy so big it's literally incredible.

By Leslie Woodcock Tentler

October 1, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Article

Sins, Mortal & Otherwise

Are Catholics still obligated “under pain of mortal sin” to follow what the church teaches? It seems nowadays most believers prefer to focus on grace and Eucharist.

September 28, 2015

Contraception mandate

Article

Off Script

The bishops and the church as a whole are about to take an honest look at the gap between that which cannot be changed and that which can and sometimes ought to be.

September 28, 2015

Secularism and Modernity

Theology

Workers in an electronics factory in Shenzhen, China.

Article

Stuck in the Mire

Why higher levels of manufacturing employment are no longer enough to turn economically developing countries into developed countries.

September 28, 2015

Article

From Silkworms to Songbirds

Preachers have told stories in a variety of ways over the centuries. But preaching in the U.S. has seen a shift from typology to illustration as the prevailing mode.

September 28, 2015

Article

Late to the Font

Adult baptism in the United States fell 43 percent between 2005 and 2013. Does it suggest a stagnation of our collective imagination about baptism itself?

September 28, 2015

Article

Letters | Women, Merton, Presumption

Readers write to petition for women writers, praise Luke Timothy Johnson's essay on Thomas Merton, take issue with Andrew Bacevich, and clarify education goals.

By The Editors

September 28, 2015

Article

The Love of God

For Jon D. Levenson, the main form that the love of God in Judaism takes—and, by extension, the form that mature adult love ought to take—is covenantal love.

By Tzvi Novick

September 28, 2015

Books

Jewish-Christian Relations

Theology

Article

The Catholic Church & Argentina's Dirty War

Gustavo Morello, SJ, offers an incisive and balanced assessment of disparate Catholics and the roles they played in Argentina’s nightmare.

September 28, 2015

Article

Religion Booknotes

The strangeness of Freeman’s title commands attention; Kaplan constructs a microhistory of religious conflict; Lipton presents a learned study; Manseau on diversity.

By Luke Timothy Johnson

September 28, 2015

Book Essay

Books

Theology

Article

Poems | 'A Lot of Ways' & Two Other Poems

There are a lot of ways to love the world, / be loved by it. Start with the sounds / of it: cello suite, hum of sander. ...

By Jean Gallagher

September 28, 2015

Poetry

Article

Poems | 'Believe' & 'Place'

Yes, I can be there / enclosed in my dark skin / wanting everything / my eyes can reach / not always available / to the length of my arms. ...

By Jack Lindeman

September 28, 2015

Poetry

Article

Last Word: A Smiling Skeptic

Does Montaigne resemble the contemporary essayist who writes about faith? The short answer is that he does not—at least not in easily recognizable ways.

By Kaya Oakes

September 28, 2015

Article

Accountability, Anyone?

Why has there never been a culture of accountability in the American university? James Keenan, SJ believes the teachers of ethics should practice what they preach.

September 24, 2015

Article

Backhanded Complementarity

In this collection of essays, authors draw on “Theology of the Body" to present the Church as a place where women’s leadership can flourish. The results are mixed.

By Nancy A. Dallavalle

September 24, 2015

Article

'Phoenix'

Set in bombed-out Berlin of 1945, Petzold's 'Phoenix' questions who was guilty, and of what, in the daily workings of the Holocaust—and will there be a reckoning?

By Rand Richards Cooper

September 23, 2015

Article

Embracing Our Limits

Francis's encyclical contains a fundamental lesson: We are not the source of meaning or value; if we believe we are, we exchange the real world for a virtual one.

September 23, 2015

Article

Walker, Work & Dignity

The departure of Scott Walker from the presidential campaign should come as a relief to American working people. But the hostility toward labor he embodied remains.

By The Editors

September 22, 2015