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

What Did Jesus Say About Ethnocentrism?

For brevity, I’ll also focus on only one component of racism, called ethnocentrism: the belief that one’s own ethnic culture is superior and/or favored by God.

Sam Elder | MIT et Spiritus | Spring 2018

DAMN: Kendrick Lamar’s Radical Lament

Kendrick Lamar is currently one of the world’s most talented lyricists, a generational storyteller, and a Christian grappling with eternal condemnation.

Kion You | The Brown & RISD Cornerstone | Spring 2018

The Peculiar Shape of Christian Identity

For Christians, personal identity is story-shaped (not abstract), derivative (not intrinsic), other-centered (not autonomous), and incomplete (not fully available to us in the here and now).

Teal McGarvey and Nick Nowalk | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016

Race and/or the Christian Identity?

All Christians share a place in the intersectionality of faith and race, but these identities need not be subject to an “either-or” debate.

Abi Bernard | Cornell Claritas | Fall 2017

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

What Killed Robert Peace?

Robert Peace’s short and tragic life comes as a shock because many of us assume that poverty can be eradicated with more money, more intellect, more opportunities, and so on

Esther Jiang | Cornell Claritas | Spring 2016

Discerning Fact from Fiction: Christianity’s Middle Eastern Heritage

First, the Western-Christian imagination has in many ways hijacked the Jesus story, and changed it into a distinctly Western narrative that deviates from the history and truth of the real biblical setting.

Sharidan Russell | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2016

God Loves Hip-Hop

Hip-hop will never be a “perfect” platform for God’s message because humans will never be “perfect” vessels for God’s message, yet many of its musicians recognize their God-given blessings and brokenness and are excited to project them into the musical world.

Abigail Rogers-Berner | The Hopkins Dialectic | Spring 2017

Christian Traditions in a Chinese Looking Glass

Chinese Traditions in a Christian Looking Glass

I thought Christianity was the same story spoken by a different tongue: if you want this, you do as I say, and then you will have it.

Lina Tian | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Fall 2016

Spanish Mass at Harvard

I imagine there are other bilingual students at Harvard who experience these same discouragements at worship services for other faiths. However, this investigation will focus particularly on the experience of Spanish-speaking Catholics.

Marina Spinelli | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016

Boundaries

We invite you to look for the beauty that boundaries can create and to heal the wounds cut by divisive boundaries.

Laura Clark | UC Berkeley TAUG | Spring 2016

Black Families and Labor Markets in the Post-Reconstruction Era

Failure to take the Black family on their own terms and in their own contexts has led many cultural critics to assign blame Black culture for the high poverty and single-motherhood rates that seem to afflict the poor Black community.

Michael Chen | The Wheaton Pub | Fall 2016

Politics: Where Do We Go From Here?

At its root, politics is not even really about addressing the latest national controversy or advancing a particular agenda, but about bringing us together as citizens to do what we can’t do on our own.

Sam Elder | MIT et Spiritus | Fall 2016

Do Ethnic Communities Have a Place in Christianity?

When I was exposed to different faith traditions and practices in college, I found myself doubting aspects of my home church that I had previously been so fond of.

Amos Jeng | The Hopkins Dialectic | 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

Who Are the Middle Eastern Christians?

Westerners’ broad concern for Middle Eastern Christians was and is well intentioned, but poorly informed, in part due to apathy and in part due to the lack of resources on the subject.

Christian Šidák | The Harvard Ichthus | Fall 2016

Christianity and Culture

How can I preserve my cultural heritage – steeped in ancestral worship, astrology, and polytheism – when it sometimes conflicts with my spiritual beliefs?

Emily Lau | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2016 (blog)

Revisiting the Life of Martin Luther King Jr.: Perspectives for Today’s Challenges

Dr. King recognized that the question of racism and civil rights was tearing America apart, and he knew that only love as illustrated by the gospel could provide a viable solution.

Andrew Shuffer | The Dartmouth Apologia | 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

Impetus

I see a nation inundated with injustice, yet a Church that is silent.

Nia Campinha-Bacote | The Yale Logos | Spring 2016

When Culture Becomes Theology: Interracial Marriage in the American Church

The body of Christ has played an unfortunate role in stigmatizing interracial marriage in the United States.

Julie Coates | The Harvard Ichthus | Spring 2015

An Interview with Tim Nelson: Christianity and Social Justice

"The pattern of the world is to segregate, to separate, to dominate, for people to try to get as much as they can for themselves."

Karl Johnson | The Hopkins Dialectic | Spring 2016

Hope in the Midst of Hurt: A Critique of Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates has been labeled this generation’s flagbearer for social justice and chief warrior against anti-Black racism.

Noah Black | The Vanderbilt Synesis | Spring 2016

An Interview With Professor Susan Ashbrook Harvey

"Simply out of interest, I took Ancient Greek my freshman year. It transformed my life!"

Justin Sohn | The Brown & RISD Cornerstone | Fall 2015

Human Dignity and the Image of God

A naturalistic conception of reality that holds on to ethereal conceptions of the individual cannot give an account for human dignity and worth.

Mwangi Thuita | 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

Starting at the Beginning of Justice

As God made it good, we are charged in that way to seek and uphold the good in our aspirations for justice in all of its expressions on our campus – economic justice, environmental justice, and social justice.

Amanda Perkins | The Bowdoin Agathos | Spring 2015

Experiencing Christ Across Cultures

I quickly became familiar with how starkly the cultures of England and Ghana differ from one another, almost as much as the perceptions of Jesus and the way people practice their faith do.

Johanan Sowah | The Columbia Crown & Cross | Spring 2015

Breaking Christians’ Silence on Racism

In the wake of Michael Brown’s shooting in August 2014, there was a noticeable dearth of active, grassroots Christian involvement in the racial conversation in Ferguson, Missouri and the rest of the United States.

Jessica Tong | The Dartmouth Apologia | Spring 2015

How Does God View Ethnicity?

Since the concept of ethnicity is of human construction, I do wonder: does God see ethnicity?

Elizabeth Jean-Marie | The Brown & RISD Cornerstone | Fall 2014

Ethnicity and Incommensurability

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Asian Americans hold a disproportionate share of power and influence in the Christian community.

Daniel Tan | The Claremont Ekklesia | Fall 2014

Jesus, America and the Middle East

Throughout my upbringing and young adulthood, I have been confronted by Jesus’ amazing and radical love while also witnessing unloving political acts directed at those affiliated with the Middle East.

Danica Harootian | The Claremont Ekklesia | Fall 2014

Christianity and the Pursuit of Happiness

From both a Christian angle and a humanist angle, I think happiness is not something we should be striving or aspiring towards, or viewing as the truth.

Christina Kellar | Swarthmore Peripateo |

An Interview with Professor Glenn Loury

Brown University economist Dr. Glenn Loury’s conversion opened his eyes to the reality and necessity of spiritual transformation and to the inadequacy of any purely secular attempt to model human moral behavior.

Philip Trammell | The Brown Cornerstone | Vol. II Issue I, Fall 2012

December 2018