Letters

Hearing Voices
How can you tell a prophet from a fruitcake? (Hint: If you're instructed to murder someone, be skeptical)
Tim Stafford

Thomas the Unbeliever
A new doubting Thomas finds few answers
Garrett Brown

Last Things
A history of the afterlife.
Scot McKnight

Believing History
An exchange featuring Bruce Kuklick, Mark Noll, and Richard Bushman

Weblog: What John Edwards Believes
John Kerry's Methodist running mate oversees his church's urban ministries, but can he win evangelicals' votes?
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Holy Pagans
Could a person be saved without knowing Christ? Among the Indians, Edwards began to wonder.
Gerald R. McDermott

Five Anglicans in Court After Rescuing Teenagers From Arranged Marriages
Priests claim Christian sisters are being forced into Islam
Alex Duval Smith

Yancey: The Last Deist
We need more than a just watchmaker who winds up the universe and lets it tick.

Tip of the Tibetian Iceberg
Director Jean-Jacques Annaud's Seven Years in Tibet
Steve Rabey

Sex and the Single Christian
No, chastity isn't archaic.
Agnes Howard

Weblog: Time Goes Gnostic
"Christmas, Carl Henry, more Gnostics, and other articles from online sources around the world"
Rob Moll

Christian History Corner: Breaking The Da Vinci Code
So the divine Jesus and infallible Word emerged out of a fourth-century power-play? Get real.
Collin Hansen

Weblog: Former Labor Secretary Predicts Religious War in America
Plus: Pastor on trial for exorcism death, Chinese woman beaten to death for distributing Bibles, European court rejects wrongful abortion suit, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Terror in India
Plus: Southern Baptist exec committee votes to leave world alliance, more on the Baptist minister killed in Iraq, troubles for the Federal Marriage Amendment, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog Bonus: You'd Better Watch Out
Battles over holiday displays are chief among the 230 religion news stories you'll find from online news stories around the world
Ted Olsen

Indigenous and Evangelistic
"Isolated from the infusion of foreign missionaries by Sri Lankan laws, the island's church knows that to survive, it must focus on evangelism"
Tim Stafford

Editor's Bookshelf: Getting Western Civ Right
"Christian theology is the catalyst, not the brake, for progress in Western history"
David Neff

Weblog: Two Iraqi Churches Bombed
Plus: Mr. Bean opposes British religious hate-crime bill, religious summit opens in Indonesia, Vatican condemns 'Christianophobia', Christmas dilemma, praying for the home team, and other articles from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Rob Moll

Weblog: Canadian Supreme Court Backs Same-Sex Marriage
Plus: Another religion clash in Egypt, a Baylor bump, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Atheist No More, Flew Still Rejects Revelation
Plus: LA Times praises Jesus, Eames says ECUSA won't be disciplined, China's Craze Mass, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Human Sacrifice Redux
How the church battles deadly prophets in its midst.
By Obed Minchakpu in Jos

The Dick Staub Interview: Mary Poplin Calls Claremont Her Calcutta
"After seeking God through telepathic spoon bending exercises, this professor found God, and with the help of Mother Teresa, her calling"

Weblog Bonus: You'd Better Watch Out
Battles over holiday displays are chief among the 230 religion news stories you'll find from online news stories around the world
Ted Olsen

Ultra Mega Weblog: Five Churches Attacked in Netherlands
Plus: Links to more than 422 (really!) other news articles and opinion pieces, including some not about how stupid evangelicals are.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

"Books & Culture Corner: Books, Books, Books!"
We begin our annual roundup
John Wilson

A Conversation on Books About Islam and the Middle East
After September 11, books about Islam and the Middle East shot to the top of the bestseller charts. American readers sought to learn more about a religion that had inspired such zealotry, however misguided, and about a portion of the world that erupts in violence almost daily. Several months later, Books & Culture editor John Wilson and regular contributor Philip Yancey found themselves on a panel discussing a sampling of books that shed light on these issues.
Philip Yancey and John Wilson

Nightmares and Miracles
A good beginning to the long battle for human rights in North Korea.
A Christianity Today editorial

Silencing Rights Talk
Law would shut down many faith-based groups.
By Sue Sprenkle

Weblog: The Most Religious Kerry Speech Ever
Plus: The Bush Code, prominent Haitian pastor murdered, Remembering Patriarch of Alexandria Petros VII, and too many other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Two Iraqi Churches Bombed
Plus: Mr. Bean opposes British religious hate-crime bill, religious summit opens in Indonesia, Vatican condemns 'Christianophobia', Christmas dilemma, praying for the home team, and other articles from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Rob Moll

Weblog (Second Helping): Revenge of the God Billboards
Plus: Britain discusses euthanasia while the Netherlands euthanizes babies, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: White House Speechwriter Talks About the Bush Code
Plus: U.S. News phones it in on prayer, Indonesian churches attacked, Mormon author disfellowshipped, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Canadian Supreme Court Backs Same-Sex Marriage
Plus: Another religion clash in Egypt, a Baylor bump, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Nightmares and Miracles
A good beginning to the long battle for human rights in North Korea.
A Christianity Today editorial

Praying for Terrorists
Christians seek healing in Beslan.
By Dawn Herzog Jewell

Yankee Stadium Strike Out
Latest Benke ruling reveals deep fissures among Missouri Synod Lutherans
Todd Hertz

Benke Suspended for 'Syncretism' after 9/11 Event
Interfaith prayer exposes divisions in LCMS
Todd Hertz

The Interfaith Public Square
"Stand up, stand up for Jesus at civic events."
A Christianity Today editorial

Last Things
A history of the afterlife.
Scot McKnight

Weblog: White House Speechwriter Talks About the Bush Code
Plus: U.S. News phones it in on prayer, Indonesian churches attacked, Mormon author disfellowshipped, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Weblog: Methodist Trial Opens With Arrests, Comparison to Crucifixion
Plus: Foursquare Gospel leaders resign over Ponzi scheme involvement; remembering the Baptists killed in Iraq, and many other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Jesus and the Religions
A new paradigm for Christian engagement?
by Gerald R. McDermott

Weblog: 12 Injured in Attack on Pakistan Bible Society
Plus: Buddhists burn another church in Sri Lanka, some conservative Christians are nonplussed by Bush's marriage initiative, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

The Dick Staub Interview: Mary Poplin Calls Claremont Her Calcutta
"After seeking God through telepathic spoon bending exercises, this professor found God, and with the help of Mother Teresa, her calling"