LifeWise Academy founder Joel Penton was on Bluetooth, driving a vibrant red and yellow school bus fashioned into a camper, heading from Ohio with his wife and five school-age children to the newest academy sites in Arkansas, Tennessee and Georgia.
Read MoreScripture engagement among American adults is at its lowest point in the 14 years the American Bible Society has commissioned the annual State of the Bible report, researchers said in releasing the first chapter of the 2024 report. Well over half — 57 percent, or 151 million — of American adults are Bible Disengaged, based on a 15-question metric.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The title, “1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture,” summarizes well this feature documentary, which argues how the misuse of a single word forever changed the course of history. Two researchers trace the origins of a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946 when the Revised Standard Version committee that two poorly understood and rarely-used Greek words would be combined and translated as homosexual.
Read MoreSomething to ponder: One of the earliest known uses of the noun madness is in an early version of Wycliffe’s Bible in 1384. In the wider world, madness meant insanity, lunacy, irrationalism, folly, delusion. In scripture, individuals — as well as nations and faith traditions — with only a shallow sense of the past and genuine tradition are given to delusion, which happens to be how Iain McGilchrist describes our current state of affairs.
Read MoreTrying to recover from under an avalanche of legal bills, former President Donald Trump said that he’s selling Bibles as he embarks on another White House run. “Happy Holy Week! Let’s Make America Pray Again. As we lead into Good Friday and Easter, I encourage you to get a copy of the God Bless the USA Bible,” he said in a video posted to Truth Social.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The American novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson has accumulated numerous literary prizes, among them the 2005 Pulitzer, but also honors in religion. Her new non-fiction book “Reading Genesis” wrestles with the grand themes and thorny issues raised in the Bible’s first book. It’s a climactic testament at the twilight of a distinguished life and career.
Read MoreA new exhibit, “Kingdom of David and Solomon Discovered” — on display now through Jan. 31, 2025, in the lobby of the Armstrong Auditorium in Edmond, Oklahoma — reflects on the panoply of the royal house of Judah, whose influence extended from Tyre in ancient Phoenicia, today Lebanon, to Sheba or Saba, in what is modern-day Yemen and Ethiopia. On display are 49 outstanding artifacts illuminating the material culture of those Hebrew monarchs.
Read MoreWhile a majority of American evangelicals may be united by fundamental spiritual beliefs, they are by no means in agreement on a variety of hot-button subjects, according to a new study. Eight months before the 2024 presidential election that will feature a rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump, the report brings into sharper focus what evangelicals think about a host of issues that could impact the election.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Chosen” remains one of the strongest pieces of faith-based content being produced these days. The fourth season is, on balance, one of the strongest to date despite some flaws. Hopefully, the groundwork being laid in these middle episodes will feel worth it in the future.
Read More“Underground,” the Kansas City ballet that tells the story of slaves escaping to freedom through the Underground Railroad, is “not a story of Black versus white, but good versus evil.” The show, which first premiered in 2008 at the Störling Dance Theater, is a beautiful ballet with a strong mission — something this shared sentiment can attest to.
Read More“The Book of Clarence” is an entertaining and God-glorifying hero’s journey story of redemption that – if not for some of its PG-13 material and off-beat style – would be right at home in any faith-based movie environment, but far better quality-wise than most.
Read More(OPINION) Last year, I wrote about the troubling findings from American Bible Society’s annual “State of the Bible” report. Every study since 2011 has shown that Bible users accounted for around 50% of American adults. However, in 2022, things changed. There was a sudden 10% decrease in Bible users, indicating that “nearly 26 million Americans reduced or stopped their interaction with Scripture in the past year.”
Read More(OPINION) More than anything else, I seem to hear from people who grew up in evangelical Protestant churches, as I did. They were taught a rigid set of doctrines to which they were expected to adhere unquestioningly. Often, these folks tell me the faith they were baptized in hasn’t held up for them. They’ve become disillusioned. They’ve quit believing in God.
Read MoreOn Sept. 21, 1968, a group of pastors and preachers gathered around a small 1250 multilith press in the Hemphill Baptist Temple’s former church property in Fort Worth, Texas, and asked for God’s blessing and direction to print his word. Since then, the Bible and Literature Missionary Foundation has printed over 55 million Bibles in 55 languages.
Read MoreThe stage version of “The Prince of Egypt” is a rousing triumph of both faith and stagecraft. It is one of the most satisfying viewing experiences of the year and a stunning reminder of what can be accomplished when faith and art are put together well.
Read More(OPINION) Let’s start with Chapter 9 of Ecclesiastes: “Under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.” Baseball is different from basketball, where a perfect shot will go into the basket. In baseball, it’s possible to hit a ball so hard — yet a well-positioned fielder can catch it.
Read More(ANALYSIS) During the formative first centuries of Christian history, there were some 40 texts in circulation that could be considered “gospels,” according to one scholar, while another counted as many as 70. Marvin Meyer of Chapman University decided a dozen such nonbiblical gospels merited inclusion in a 2005 anthology, while others have proposed different listings.
Read MoreReligion Unplugged contributor Kenneth Ethan Frantz interviewed Schiess about her new book, the role the Bible played in the past and present in American politics, and what it all means ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Read More(OPINION) If I asked you to name the most repeated commandment in the whole Bible, you might offer up any one of various scriptural admonitions: Love the Lord with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Thou shalt not kill. But the real answer might surprise you.
Read More(OPINION) Late last year, the American Bible Society published its annual “State of the Bible” report, and the results signal a dramatic decline in Bible reading. It seems clear that we are cultivating a society that does not care to make Bible reading a regular habit.
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