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

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

The Strange Persistence of Guilt: A Q&A with Wilfred McClay

"Guilt is a key aspect of what might be called our moral nervous system. It alerts us to our failures, and pushes us to make them right in some way."

Lynette Long | The Dartmouth Apologia | Fall 2017

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

Is Tolerance Enough?

As we look closer at the definition of “tolerance,” we begin to understand why it may be a rather imperfect word, inadequate to face the current climate.

Grace Liu | Vanderbilt Synesis | 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

War and Peace in Christian Tradition

What are some wise insights and necessary points of reflection that we, Christian or not, should take heed of when confronted with violence, war and the question of justice?

Erik Johnson | MIT et Spiritus | Fall 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

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