Liberation theology is reported to be in decline throughout Latin America, but remnants of this theology that mixes radical politics and theology, still survive. In a report on the pope’s visit to Mexico, the New York Times (Jan. 21) reports that “although only a handful of bishops still espouse it, [liberation theology] has nonetheless left a powerful […]

A growing and often violent conflict between Hindus and Christians have renewed concerns about the growth of Hindu nationalism. The New York Times (Jan. 23) reports that in the past year there have been more attacks on Christians than at any other time in India’s half century of independence. According to the Indian Home Ministry the numbers […]

While Muslims and Eastern Orthodox are battling in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, and the Orthodox Church is in conflict with other Christian bodies around the world, the situation in the Russian Republic of Tartistan is markedly different. An article in Religion, State & Society (September/December), a journal on religion in former communist lands, finds […]

Epiphany, or the traditional twelfth day of Christmas, is making a comeback in England, reports the Washington Post (Jan. 6). There is a concerted drive both by churches and others interested in reviving national traditions to reintroduce the Twelfth Day celebrations in England after a long period of neglect. The Feast of the Epiphany marks the account […]

Charismatic and evangelical currents appear to be having a strong impact in Norway, according to an article in Charisma  magazine (January). There are growing charismatic ministries in the nation that are especially finding a following among Norway’s youth. A movement known as the Jesus Revolution is just two years old but the group has drawn crowds of […]

Like their white counterparts, African-American Generation Xers are tending to merge “innovation and traditionalism” in their search for spiritual connections, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper (Jan. 1). Like the black baby boomers preceding them, Gen Xers show loose attachments to denominational labels and some of the other traditions of the black church and value spiritual experience over […]

As the controversy over the impeachment of President Clinton continues to swirl over the nation, respected observers and pollsters are finding a generation gap to be a major source of the conflict on the issue. The Washington Post National Weekly Edition, (Jan. 11) reports that “deep divisions across social, political and generational lines” are brought on […]

American evangelicals are experiencing an intellectual renaissance, although it is uncertain whether it will reach most evangelical believers. In the Catholic magazine Commonweal (Jan. 15), James Turner writes that the publication of the bi-monthly journal Books and Culture signals the culmination of a “kind of evangelical Long March through American intellectual life.” Evangelical intellectuals who write for the journal, such […]

A spirituality based on community life is one of the factors in the growth of the “co-housing” movement in the U.S. Co-housing, a form of living where residents have their own homes, but also create community through shared meals and other activities, first emerged in Denmark in the 1970s. New Age magazine (January/February) reports that since […]

Are extremists “hijacking” the American Muslim community through its leaders’ complicity and silence regarding terrorism? That’s the controversial view of  the Islamic Supreme Council (ISC), a Muslim education group based in Washington, D.C. The Muslim magazine (January), which is published by the ISC, carries a statement from the council saying that “too often we see leaders of the […]