(ANALYSIS) As a professor of nonprofit law, I believe some groups that aren’t churches or associations of churches want to be designated that way to avoid the scrutiny being a charitable organization otherwise requires. At the same time, some other groups that should qualify as churches may have difficulty doing so because of the IRS’ outdated test for that status.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The Shroud of Turin, the world’s most famous and most-examined artifact, is revered by devotees as the actual burial cloth that covered Jesus Christ’s body after his crucifixion. Many will consider that inconceivable, but is there reason to accept the claim? Or is this celebrated cloth merely a pious artwork, or a clever fraud, that originated in medieval times?
Read More(ANALYSIS) Daniel Silliman’s “One Last Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation” (Eerdman’s, 2024) is a well-written biography of the president who won a 49-state reelection victory in 1972 and resigned in disgrace two years later. Silliman’s scenes include Nixon as a 22-year-old working in his dad’s store “peeling grimy leaves off the lettuce and picking out the bruised fruit, which was starting to decay."
Read More(ANALYSIS) Please allow me a moment of grief and frustration. I am, you see, worrying about friends who are missing, and to be blunt, no one knows if some of them will be fatalities in the the great Hurricane Helene catastrophe in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Basically all the Christian traditions are at the top of this graph — Protestant, “Just Christian,” Orthodox and Catholic, in that order. In each case about three-quarters lean toward not finding it acceptable to shout down a speaker. The groups at the bottom are the three types of nones and the Jewish sample.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, explained that his team is looking into the abductions of Ukrainian children to Russia, but also the destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage linked to Ukrainian identity, among others. He also indicated that his team is investigating mass killings, such as those in Bucha, as a crime of genocide.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Two recent events have made major headlines in the faith-based film industry. The first was the dominance of faith-based, politically right-wing films at the domestic box office. The second was Dallas Jenkins’ announcement that his “The Chosen” TV series about Jesus was expanding into a whole “The Chosen” universe of shows.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The U.S. Census Bureau says about 7 million children, or about 13% of school-aged students, go to private schools. This includes about 3.5 million homeschooled children. Both numbers represent significant increases in the past five years. Why has this shift taken place?
Read More(ANALYSIS) An “intelligence” report has emerged suggesting that over 900 “Kuki militants,” trained in advanced warfare techniques, have crossed from Myanmar into India and may target Meitei villages in Manipur as Christians in the region continue to be persecuted. It’s strange that this information was shared with the public, rather than communicated discretely to the Indian army.
Read More(ANALYSIS) How Catholic voters view the candidates and issues could nudge margins enough to swing the election, and so could many other factors in such a nail-biter. Though political coverage emphasizes evangelicals, shifts by the two different Catholic segments are usually much more important in general elections.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Religion and biohacking, at first glance, may seem worlds apart — one rooted in ancient traditions and spiritual beliefs; the other in cutting-edge science and technology. Look again and you'll recognize the fact that both grapple with fundamental questions about the nature of life, death and the human quest for transcendence.
Read MoreWhen a legend invites you to the Big House, you go. The story of how our columnist ended up at a Michigan Wolverines game with basketball coach Garth Pleasant, who won 720 games and four small-college national championships.
Read More(ANALYSIS) American gospel musician Kirk Franklin and his Maverick City shook off negative perceptions from Kenyan skeptics to stage a show. As fans gathered at the Ulinzi Stadium in Nairobi to dance to Franklin, critics chose to stay away. Those who believe they are defenders of the Christian faith warned that Franklin was no longer representative of Jesus.
Read MoreHere’s the big idea in the podcast: Elite newsrooms allowing reporters to live in the heartland offer opportunities for reporters to interact with voices and points of view that they would not have encountered otherwise. In the end, however, a newsroom is only as diverse as the worldviews and source lists found in the work of its editors and superstars.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the bitterly divided evangelical world, any discussion of these issues — such as a confession signed by A-list evangelical Trump critics, as well as some doctrinal progressives — will automatically be framed by the rhetoric of the former president and his boldest supporters. Decades of rapier thrusts by late-night comedians, newsroom warriors and oppo researchers fade into the past.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The man who wrote “The Exorcist” knew what he was doing. The late William Peter Blatty was a witty Hollywood veteran (he wrote the Pink Panther classic “A Shot in the Dark”), as well as an articulate pro-Catechism Catholic.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The nones just aren’t a coherent “thing” like Catholics or evangelicals. They are united by what they are not. They don’t have regular worship services. I think it’s fair to say that there isn’t a dominant worldview among the nonreligious. But now, we can have an unprecedented view into the differences in organized nones versus nones in general.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Audience members may walk away from the first two movies in the “X” trilogy believing they’re meant to have picked up on a meaning. Maybe something about purity culture, womanhood or aging; maybe a warning about the perils of chasing stardom. But even the intended message is unclear.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Numerous high-profile sporting stars talk openly about the importance of religion to their careers, including England soccer stars Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka. World heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury credits his Catholic faith with bringing him back from addiction. It is sports, and its “gods” like Fury, that attracts far greater devotion among much of the public.
Read MoreA Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist is leaving the Wall Street Journal for the National Catholic Reporter. Why this is a surprise — and why it's not.
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