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Are We About To See an “Awakening?” [Yawn]
by Matthew Raley The term awakening is important to American evangelicals — and ought to become more important. It refers to periods of spiritual renewal, of which churches are in desperate need. So I...
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Book Review: Colors of God
by Matthew Raley Congregational life among evangelicals is changing across the United States and Canada. For several decades, innovators have been challenging the way churches worship, preach, and...
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The Path To Genuine National Renewal
by Matthew Raley With election day less than a week hence, I confess that I think the campaign is a crashing bore. If there were a prospect that the nation’s course might change, I suppose the...
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The Pantheon’s Embrace
by Matthew Raley The Romans achieved cultural durability not through military force, but through the embrace of every god in their empire. They appropriated Greek culture wholesale, and affirmed the...
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God’s Redemptive Justice
by Matthew Raley Ross Douthat made a trenchant observation in his New York Times column on Easter Sunday. “The doctrine of hell . . . assumes that our choices are real, and, indeed, that we are the...
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Gingrich and Social Conservatives
by Matthew Raley The victory of Newt Gingrich in South Carolina puts evangelicals and other social conservatives at a crossroads. Gingrich by any measure is morally equal to Bill Clinton, upon whom...
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The President’s View of Rights
by Matthew Raley The last couple of weeks have seen a change of tone among Democrats about President Obama’s requirement that religious institutions be forced to provide “contraception” in their health...
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The Empty Tomb and the Empty Easter
by Matthew Raley For American evangelicals, the resurrection of Jesus Christ seems to have become a tall tale. We retell the story with gusto, but by Easter afternoon the resurrection fades to legend....
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Vertigo: The Ink-Blot Problem
by Matthew Raley Interpreting art has always been a problem. Can a painting have a theme? When does a novelist cross the line between portraying wrong actions and endorsing them? Can you be morally or...
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Jesus Projection
by Matthew Raley The name “Jesus” has been a blank screen in America for a long time. If I embrace the name, I acknowledge that “Jesus” is the epitome of goodness. But, in a neat trick, I can project...
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Amy Grant, Entertainment, and Worship
by Matthew Raley After the North State Symphony‘s show with Amy Grant in Redding last week, conductor Kyle Pickett button-holed me for a discussion. Grant had sung “El Shaddai” near the end of the...
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Hope in the Pharisee’s Spiral
by Matthew Raley In 2012, I got a lengthy email from a well-known pastor endorsing Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination. Gingrich was peaking at that moment and the pastor argued that...
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Tough Questions at Chico Grace Brethren
Our nation seems more divided than ever on moral and spiritual issues. The different tribes watch comfortable cable channels, subscribe to congenial blogs, or lob incendiary posts at other tribes on...
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