Featured Articles
For Those Who Fret About It
For much of my pastoral life, I’ve conversed in living rooms, at park benches, and in bars and cafés with people wondering about Christian faith, curious about what it would mean to become a Christian or struggling with whether they can stay one.
The questions we ask in the borderlands between faith and doubt are as old as humanity.
Featured Articles
How Reading Calvin’s Institutes Made Sense of a Glioblastoma
Calvin probably wouldn’t agree with my assessment of the evil tumor. For Calvin, the providence of God both sent the tumor and provided the surgeon, so I can be assured both her life and her death and everything in between are in the hands of God. I do not quite agree with this still, but I get it now. There is no place—even a tumor growing so fast it’s killing itself and my sister—that God has not been well before we get there.
My Last Letter to Zak
Earlier this summer, I wrote my last letter to a boyhood friend. He was executed 11 days after I mailed it. In his letter to
My Friendship with Walter Brueggemann
Walter was one who lived at his own crossroads of shame and grace, light and dark, brokenness and redemption. In Jungian terms, he befriended his
Our Meeting with Gorbachev: When Moscow Asked American Christians for Help
I had never met either of the two Senators from Illinois, or the mayor of Chicago, or even the mayor of my hometown, Cicero, and
Refugees from Racism? Really?
Perhaps the rest of the world should not be overly concerned about a few dozen white South Africans who pretend to be fleeing a nonexistent
Zionism must be understood “from the standpoint of its victims”
The demonization of pro-Palestinian voices in the United States has risen dramatically. Zionists have attacked critics of Israel’s policies and practices by conflating anti-Zionism with
Homecoming – Chapter One of “Rooted”
The kids were silent. Eerily silent. Quite possibly more silent than four kids aged five through ten confined to car seats have ever been in
Latest from the Blog
Daily blog by our regular bloggers & guest contributors.
When What Divides Us is What Defines Us
Our problems begin when we see those outside our own groups as the “other.” Too often, we leave empathy at the door and see the
What Happened to the Fish?
The story of the flood is fascinating for many reasons. On the surface, it’s a horrible story. God is so fed up with the sinfulness
Will the Murder of Charlie Kirk Change Anything?
The Second Amendment is a sacred cow. It was written in a different time with primitive firearms and no standing army. The writers of the
How Do You Know AI Didn’t Write This?
There has been much brouhaha about generative AI in education, and particular concerns in higher education. As always, people have lots of opinions, with the
There Are No Perfect Victims
I sense this demand for perfect victims is an unwanted gift from Christianity to the wider culture. The church teaches that Jesus is sinless, a
The Weight of our Neighbor’s Glory
Most things we hear or read stay with us for a moment or two, but some words and phrases and clauses stay with us for
The Kids are Alright. More or Less.
They don’t see church as a value-added to their lives. Their first thoughts are of obligations, constraints, conflict. More in their already hectic schedule.
My 9/11 Grief and Some Hard Questions
Last week, I visited the September 11th Memorial in lower Manhattan, looking for a specific name etched in the plaque memorializing those killed that awful
Reviews
Where Science Meets the Soul: Exploring Integrating Psychology and Faith by Moes & Riek
Moes and Riek’s motivation to write Integrating Psychology and Faith stemmed from teaching the psychology and religion capstone course for their university’s psychology major. They
Searching for the Elusive
Socrates, who famously said that the unexamined life is not worth living, never met Doyle Shields, the main character in Thomas Lynch’s novel No Prisoners.
Bearing Witness to Scars
I was 21, unmarried, and pregnant the day I sat across from my pastor, asking for help. My voice was trembling, my future uncertain. He
Colonialism, Racism, and Empire
What if the Israeli-Palestinian war isn’t just a political dispute, but a colonial project with deep historical roots, and what if our understanding of Christian
In Equal Measure, His Heart Expanded
I started asking for a horse in the third grade. My parents, wary of what might be a passing fancy, wisely refused. As I grew
What Truly Matters Has Not Changed: On Writing and AI
The arrival of generative AI on top of algorithmic social media can feel like a pandemic on top of a pandemic for overwhelmed parents, educators,
How Did We Get Here? Again?
How did we end up here? Again? Is there a moment when family, friends, people I know and love will realize the massive manipulation campaign
Take a Backseat, DNA!
Most of us are familiar with the “DNA as the blueprint of life” idea—that DNA contains all the information necessary to build an organism, whether
Poetry
After Denise Levertov’s Essays
My mind stops, one foot in the air …
Awake
An olive tree, aflame in my mind, awake in the wee hours …
On Absolution
I pass the big nursery on the way to see my father for the first time in a year …
Grafting Apple Shoots
Gashes in the green. Stumps and roots serve in …
Winterscape with Hair Gel and Citrus
Each day you wak to the same gray sky, snow covering the gass like scarves the women wear …
Annunciation
After Fred broke up with me,I returned to graduate schooland immersed myself in six classes,an overload, trying to heal. One sunny autumn day,I sat alone
Podcasts
“After Denise Levertov’s Essays” by Caroline J. Simon
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma interviews Caroline J. Simon, PhD, about her poem “After Denise Levertov’s Essays.”
“On Absolution” by Lila Tindall
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Lila Robinett Tindall about her poem “On Absolution.” Lila is
“Grafting Apple Shoots” by Betsy Howard
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Betsy Howard about her poem “Grafting Apple Shoots.” Betsy serves
“Winterscape with Hair Gel and Citrus” by Marci Rae Johnson
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Marci Rae Johnson about her poem “Winterscape with Hair Gel and
“Annunication” by Janet Heller
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the Poetry Edition, Rose Postma talks with Janet Ruth Heller about her poem “Annunication.” Heller is the
“The Jar Left at the Well” by Sarah Watkins
In this episode of the Reformed Journal Podcast, the poetry edition, Rose Postma talks with Sarah Watkins about her poem “The Jar the Woman Left