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Essays

America’s Civic Christianity and Paul’s Solution

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  – Colossians 3:2 Americans have long expressed concern about the character of their high officials. Opinion polls show that until recently most would have rejected out of hand a presidential candidate lacking religion; many still do. Although a subset of those who insist on a professing executive and who think of the United States as a “Christian nation” recognize the need for religious diversity or speak loosely, small…
September 1, 2016
Poetry

The Book of Kells

Here, there’s no circle, only the spiral, endlessly turning back on itself. No straight lines, only curves, coiling, looping. There’s no direct path to the Kingdom of Heaven; it’s circuitous, echoing the barrow graves of Newgrange, indecipherable swirls, zigzags, lozenges. Knots without end, alpha and omega, merged. Lines that refuse to conform to a pattern, dance to their own rhythm, lost in a maze. Here, the power’s derived from the wander, and each turn changes the rules. Turn-in-the-Path. Head-Under-Wing. Is…
Barbara Crooker
September 1, 2016
Essays

U.S. Politics and the Vote: How Can Christians Engage in Meaningful Citizenship?

I am a political science professor at a Christian university with ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a denomination in the Reformed tradition. My own background is Calvinist. When I was growing up, it was a given that Christians working in political life were considered to be as much involved in ministry as those going to seminary. The theme “all of life is religion” was a mantra at my college, and we were taught that politics belongs to God. But…
September 1, 2016
As We See It

Hillary Clinton and Christian America

Let’s start with a disclaimer. I’m a historian, and as such I have no particular skills when it comes to prognostication. Case in point: At the start of this election season, I would have placed my money on Scott Walker as the likely Republican nominee. For Clinton, bringing faith into politics isn’t anything new. But if history teaches us anything, it’s that anything can happen. This was first brought home to me in 1991. I was a high school student,…
September 1, 2016
Reviews

A Peek into the Mind of Marilynne Robinson

The Givenness of Things, by Marilynne Robinson THE GIVENNESS OF THINGS: ESSAYS MARILYNNE ROBINSON FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX, 2015. $26 286 PAGES Marilynne Robinson, best known for her four novels, Housekeeping, Gilead, Home and Lila, is a prolific essayist. The Givenness of Things represents her most recent compilation of essays. A self-described theist, Robinson identifies as a Protestant and makes no apologies for assigning priority to the Christian faith. The 17 pieces in the Givenness of Things derive from talks…
September 1, 2016
Essays

The Maoist Moment in American Conservatism

As of this writing Donald Trump is the presumptive United States presidential nominee for the Republican Party. While it is unclear why Trump has enough popularity to be the nominee (no doubt social scientists and historians will be working on this for a while) the dominant narrative is something along the lines of angry voters tired of “business as usual” politics which do not seem to be paying off for them. So they want to “burn it all down.” What…
September 1, 2016
Poetry

Complaints from Medieval Scribes

a found poem  Imagine sitting for hours at a slant desk, copying on rough parchment with a sharpened quill, day after lonely day. Of course you’d be tempted to write in the margins: “That’s a hard page and a weary work to read it.” “New parchment, bad ink; I say nothing more.” “The ink is thin.” “I am very cold.” “Saint Patrick of Armagh, deliver me from writing.” “Thank God it will soon be dark.” “Oh, my hand.” “Now that…
Barbara Crooker
September 1, 2016
Poetry

God of Dust

Early afternoon in late December: Clouds covering the face of the sun Parted and let light flood the living room, A current picking up carpet fibers and dog hair, Offering them up on tiny thermals, An ordinary sacrifice From time to eternity. One small dust particle dances, Pirouettes, waltzes, sighs, And descends, drifting back Into the blue and white carpet. This – that is what you tell them. This is why I believe. Pierce Taylor Hibbs has written for Westminster…
June 30, 2016
Reviews

Dissecting a Suburban Exodus

Shades of White Flight SHADES OF WHITE FLIGHT: EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONS AND URBAN DEPARTURE MARK MULDER RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2015 $28.95 181 PAGES In May 2015, I sat in an intense council meeting that would decide the fate of my church, Roosevelt Park Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan. The council resolved, and the church agreed, to give ourselves three months to achieve specific benchmarks so that we might discern if the church should continue on or not. We did not…
June 30, 2016