Reading a Liturgy of Confession: Liturgy as Forma Formans

The form worship takes reveals has certain assumptions about how people learn built into it. Reading liturgy from a formalist perspective, one that pays attention to form, reveals much about what those assumptions are.

Caleb Molstad | University of Minnesota Between Cities | Spring 2019

A Welcome Reformation: In Praise of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”

Through my journey, I have come to believe that the same empire of fear that drives millions of football players to unnecessarily run the risk of traumatic brain injury also drives innumerable religious devotees into a wall of shame.

Kenneth Lucas Dodd | Cal Poly Aletheia | Winter 2019

How Much Is a Little Girl Worth? Justice, Forgiveness, and Sexual Assault

For all the attention paid to Denhollander’s faith and forgiveness, some forget why she was actually in the courtroom: to support “the maximum possible sentence” possible for Dr. Nassar.

Aldis Petriceks | Stanford Vox Clara | Winter 2019

Pursuing Unity in Diversity

Instead of ignoring the reality of our physical differences and the history of oppression and racism caused by these differences, my hope is that awareness of our common misperceptions about race can be the first step in recognizing and understanding what racism itself is and how we can combat it.

Grace Liu | The Vanderbilt Synesis | Fall 2018

White as Snow: A Comparison of Two Prayers of Repentance

By examining two famous prayers of repentance, that of the fictional King Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and that of the historical King David in Psalm 51, I hope to shed light on what repentance is and what it is not.

Paul Jeon | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2018

Friend of Sinners

Jesus was known to be a friend of sinners, and his life has encouraged me to do the same in my work within the criminal justice system–to befriend them, encourage them, and find them worthy of healing, rehabilitation, and forgiveness.

Brittany Krippner | CalPoly Aletheia | Spring 2018

The Ones Who Walk Away: Social Justice, Shame, and the Church

Le Guin’s story, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," won the 1974 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, with many readers interpreting it as an allegory about societal injustices that are seen but remain unaddressed.

Miles Woodhull | | Spring 2018

Revisiting Biblical Claims on Generational Punishment

When humans sin, they affect other people to whom they are connected. Thus, must Christians sit down and repent for their ancestors’ sins?

Joshua Lee | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2016

What is Justice?

If Jesus’ loving death on the cross becomes the Christian archetype of justice, our vision has more in common with Socrates’ than with Thrasymachus’ or Cephalus’.

Luke Foster | The Yale Logos | Spring 2016

Lending and Borrowing: A Christian Perspective

This paper will delve further into what the Bible has to say about lending and borrowing, how its interpretation has changed over time, and how it can work in today’s society.

Roy Walker | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2016

“Criminal” is the Wrong Word

Today, the United States of America represents 5% of the world’s population, but 22% of the world’s incarcerated population is in an American prison or jail.

Emani Pollard | Cornell Claritas | Spring 2016

The Role of Han in Korean Christianity

Unlike Rome with Catholicism and Germany with Protestantism, the root of Christian growth in Korea is not spiritual but cultural.

Joyce Lee | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2016

The Year of Mercy: A Retrospective

Before the summer of 2016 began, I remember telling my spiritual director that I felt God wanted to teach me about mercy, especially with my favorite job: counseling a local summer camp for kids.

Michael Miskovski | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2017

Nonviolent Action and the Revolution of the Cross

In fact, in line with this trend of “questioning institutions”, MIT has recently announced a $250,000 award to further encourage “extraordinary civil, non-violent disobedience for the benefit of society.” But why is this all happening?

Matthew Chun | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2017

A Non-Concealing Confession

This repentance must come from confession of sins and asking for forgiveness from God through prayer, but I also have come to believe that confession to others is at least a helpful, if not absolutely necessary part of this process.

Nate Lamb | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2016

Discovering Jesus: “Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?”

If a person believes that the events in the Bible did take place, then a natural step is to decide what they believe about the identity of Jesus.

Liz Stasior | The Middlebury Vine | Fall 2016

The Gospel in the First Century

What I found in my studies and hope to summarize in this article is that a deeper understanding of the first-century Jewish world in which Jesus lived makes for a much richer appreciation of the good news that he proclaimed.

Erik Johnson | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2016

Forgiveness: Unjust and Illogical?

How, then, do we address the seeming injustice in forgiveness? Is forgiveness inherently a legitimization of wrong?

Tori Campbell | The Yale Logos | Spring 2016

Forgiveness and Justice

We do not forgive because we seek to appease white America who feels guilt and shame for not speaking out that black lives matter.

Emani Pollard | The Cornell Claritas | Fall 2015

What God Expects: The Paradox of the Standards of the Christian Community

Therefore, the standard to be Christian and to become part of the Christian community is to understand this paradox: we cannot achieve God’s standards.

Cindy Wu | The Cornell Claritas | Fall 2015

Forgiving the Unforgivable

Before his killing spree began, he had spent an hour with them at their weekly Bible study, in the basement of Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Jeremy Candelas | The Cornell Claritas | Fall 2015

A Catholic Confesses

Confession works even when I don’t expect or believe it will.

Jane Thompson | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2014

Why Do I Need to Confess My Sins to a Priest?

One of the questions that many people often ask Catholics is, “Who do you need to confess your sins to a priest to receive forgiveness?"

Fr. Mark Murphy | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2014

The Gift of Confession

The desire to confess may seem counter-intuitive. Obviously the seeker-sensitive movement assumed this was the last thing non-Christians wanted to do.

James K. A. Smith | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2014

Making Peace with My Worst Enemy

As he talked about forgiving that enemy in your life, I wondered, how could I forgive myself when it was me who was causing the pain and yet not stopping it?

Zoë Wray | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2014

Smeared Mascara and Baby Steps

I now believe that as I learned more and more about the nature of God, it became easier for me to be more patient with my sister, to let my guard down and not expect the worst, and to both forgive and forget when things got rocky.

Pauline Goodson | Swarthmore Peripateo | Spring 2014

Second Chances

How then can a Christian advocate punishment that never ends and a criminal background that never fades?

Jessica Zou | Princeton Revisions | Fall 2013

Escaping the Prison of Guilt

It is important to acknowledge the harm that our sins cause, but the depth of one’s guilt should not be a standard for one’s moral worth.

Marcos Martinez | | The Columbia Cross & Cross

Jesus and Women: Rebelling against Misogyny

The gospels tell of Jesus' extraordinary conduct towards women, which takes on a radical nature when considered in the context of the oppressive environment for women in the Ancient Middle East.

CJ Curtis | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2013

A Response to Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion

Adopting C.S. Lewis’ concept of love’s responsibility, Ross Douthat harshly criticizes American Christianity in hopes of encouraging a stronger future.

Elena Zinski | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2012

A Papal Perspective on Community

Pope Francis has made much news, in particular, because of his unique approach towards religious and non-religious communities around the world.

Tony Farias | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2013

The Indispensable Image: Is the Church Really Necessary?

The question that haunts these chapters is: how will the nations come to know the one true God? Will it be through the futility of idols, or through the faithfulness of Israel?

Nick Nowalk | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2013

Behold, I Stand at the Door

I am speaking up because I want Christians who think that there are no rapists in their midst or that sexual violence is an issue that only affects certain kinds of people to realize how different the truth looks.

Quitterie Gounot | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2013

Abundant Life, Abundant Love, and the Empty Tomb

At the empty tomb, I want to ask the same two questions as at the Cross - why is it necessary, and why is it possible?

Nathan Scalise | Swarthmore Peripateo | Fall 2013

On The Book of Mormon: Christianity without Scripture

The Book of Mormon provides a caricature of what religion might look like if it rested only upon its practices and not on the truth of the underlying story.

Shaun Lim | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2013

Love Thy Enemy

Are Christians merely ignoring the horrible things that the Boston bomber has done in praying for him? Is Rabbi Boteach right to claim that “[T]o show kindness to the murderer,” as the Christians are doing, “is to violate the victim yet again”?

Enoch Kuo | Princeton Revisions |

The Incarnation

Christianity doesn’t preach a distant God who turned a blind eye to mankind, but rather tells of a God who became a man himself. God didn’t simply send a message; He became the messenger. We recall this momentous occasion – the divine incarnation – each year at Christmas.

Jordan Monge | The Harvard Ichthus | Volume 7, Number 4, Winter 2011

The Marriage of Justice and Mercy

Christianity has seeming contradictions like a dog has fleas. This one consistently arises: how can a God of justice be, at the same time, a God of mercy? George MacDonald brings this contradiction to a point: “Those who say justice means the punishing of sin, and mercy the not punishing of sin, and attribute both to God, would make a schism in the very idea of God.”

Andrew Kim | Brown Cornerstone | Volume 1, Issue 1, Spring 2012

June 2019