01: Vital Theology is an ambitious new newsletter that attempts to apply a broadly Christian theological critique to contemporary society and culture. The newsletter, published 20 times a year, seeks to provide theological insights on current events and bridge the conservative/liberal divide by moving beyond contentious “culture war” issues to larger themes. The first issue of the […]
Changes afoot in the Muslim brotherhood
A new generation of leaders is rising in the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which might lead to changes in this influential Islamist movement, reports Paul Schemm in Middle East International (Jan. 23). On Jan. 9, Ma’mun al-Hudaybi passed away at the age of 83. He was the last major figure of his generation. While the new leader, Muhammad […]
Religion fighting or fueling Sicily’s mafia?
Ten years after a courageous struggle by the Catholic Church against Sicily’s Mafia, there is a loss of momentum in such efforts, even as religious and quasi-religious currents are now playing a prominent role in this criminal culture. Britain’s The Tablet (Jan. 31) notes that 1993 marked the height of church protests against the Cosa Nostra, when […]
Current Research: March 2004
01: The kind and degree of religious and spiritual experiences people seek out may be related to the level of the chemical serotonin in their brains, according to a new Swedish study. The study, conducted by Lars Farde of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and published in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychology, […]
New funerals break from tradition
Funerals are increasingly departing from traditional and somber rituals and assuming a more informal, flexible and celebratory nature, reports theNew York Times (Feb. 11). Nationwide, but especially in the American West, funeral homes are embracing a trend known as “personalization,” where services are tailored to individual preferences. A deceased person’s ashes may be sent heavenward via […]
Salvation Army’s return to roots brings new divisions
As the Salvation Army attempts to reassert its religious roots, the organization is becoming increasingly torn between its religious and charitable functions, reports the New York Times (Feb. 2). The Salvation Army branch in New York has served as the flashpoint in the conflict. Long regarded as the least religious in its programs, the New York division […]
Evangelical fiction crosses over to secular world
As the burgeoning world of evangelical fiction grows more diverse, tensions are emerging over authors who are “crossing over” from the Christian to the secular markets. The conflict is similar to the situation in the contemporary Christian music industry, where artists who seek to reach beyond the evangelical niche are accused of compromising their message. Charisma magazine […]
‘Passion’s’ ecumenical and evangelical appeal
Aside from generating controversy over its alleged anti-semitism, Mel Gibson’s new film, The Passion of The Christ, has become a new ecumenical icon among American evangelicals. Gibson, an aderent to a traditionalist Catholicism that still views Protestants as heretics, is hailed in Christianity Today (March) as creating a vision of Christ that resonates with “all classical believers…In […]
Immigrant Christians replacing mainline’s declining ranks?
Scholars and other observers of American religion are realizing that immigration is more likely to replenish the declining ranks of Christian churches than create sizable blocs of world religions in the country. In Christian Century magazine (Feb. 10), sociologist R. Stephen Warner writes that the “new immigrants represent not the de-Christianization of American society but the de-Europeanization […]
Findings & Footnotes: February 2004
01: In 1993, a group of leading Mormon theologians and scholars (known as the “September six” in the media) were excommunicated for their heterodox views. Ten years later, the independent Mormon magazineSunstone devotes some of its December issue to the religious journeys of these “heretics.” In a singular and unique tradition such as Mormonism, the question […]
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