Top 10 Blogs You Should Be Reading in 2012 (Or, Why You Should Be Using Google Reader)

Last updated on: December 29, 2014 at 9:37 pm by Carl Gregg

Top 10 Blogs You Should Be Reading in 2012 (Or, Why You Should Be Using Google Reader) 2014-12-29T21:37:16-05:00 Carl Gregg

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve lost track of the number of blogs that I follow, and there is one reason that makes this possible from a time management perspective: Google Reader.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that many popular blogs feature an odd orange icon or allude to subscribing to their “RSS Feed.” “What is RSS,” you ask? Well,

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, blogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site’s email newsletter.

When you visit your favorite blog and click on that ubiquitous orange icon or on “Subscribe to RSS Feed” and paste that information in your Google Reader, then — instead of visiting dozens (or hundreds) of blogs each day — you can quickly scroll through Google Reader for the latest content, which is infinitely more efficient since most bloggers do not update daily. I’ve found that I can move through my Google Reader feed even faster using the free iPhone app, clicking “Keep Unread” only on those items that I want to read later on my laptop.

To perhaps pique your interest further, the following are ten blogs (in no particular order) that you may find meaningful in 2012:

Duke Divinity’s Call & Response Blog: Faith & Leadership: Excellent collection of the best “News & Ideas” spotted by the blog’s editors.

Michael Hyatt: Intentional Leadership: The musings of the chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world. Michael’s more conservative theologically than I am, but I appreciate his “thoughts on leading with purpose, personal productivity, book publishing, and social media.”

Seth Godin: Seth writes about the “post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. American Way Magazine calls him, ‘America’s Greatest Marketer,’ and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual.”

Richard Rohr: Unpacking Paradoxes: One of our greatest living wisdom teachers recently started blogging. Need I say more?

An und fur sich: I love the ongoing discussion here at the intersection of religion and philosophy, politics and culture, but be forewarned that they are unabashedly elitist.

Mahan Siler: Anam Cara: Another great site from a living elder and wisdom teacher.

Vegetarian Running: No Meat Athlete: As a longtime vegetarian and newbie triathlete, I appreciate the encouraging and helpful resources on this blog.

Religion and Other Curiosities: Peter Berger’s Blog: Berger is a renown sociologist of religion, who frequently pulls together fascinating juxtapositions of articles in his posts.

Peter Rollins: You should be reading his books as well as his blog. Rollins makes Post-Structuralist Philosophical Theology accessible for a general audience. (Seriously, he does.) Impressive. Most impressive. And challenging.

Website of Unknowing: Anamchara: Carl McColman is apparently moving his blog to Patheos (welcome to the team!) So stay tuned for a new RSS feed. He writes on the “contemplative dimension of Christian spirituality, and the exciting new frontier of interfaith dialogue and interspirituality.”

And, of course, I would be remiss not to mention that the RSS Feed for my blog is here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/carlgregg/feed/.

You can also subscribe to my posts via e-mail using the widget at the top right-hand corner of this Patheos blog. Thanks, everyone, for reading.

What else should I be reading in 2012? I welcome your feedback in the comments section.

Update: Perhaps I should also quality that the above is essentially what you should be reading if you are, like me, an unabashed (or aspiring) God Nerd (h/t: Christian Piatt).

The Rev. Carl Gregg is a trained spiritual director, a D.Min. candidate at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the pastor of Broadview Church in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Follow him on Facebook (facebook.com/carlgregg) and Twitter (@carlgregg).

Best of the Year List

Previous Post

January 5, 2012

Church Planting at the Intersection of Emergence and Creation Spirituality

Next Post

January 9, 2012 Preaching the Didache: What Is Your Canon and Why?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Anti-Racism Archaeology Atheism Baptism Best of the Year List Book Reviews Buddhism Catholicism Christian Education Church and State Church Planting Climate Change Conscientious Objection to War Creation Spirituality Death Penalty Didache Disability Rights Discernment Easter Ecology Emergent Church Movement Empire-Critical Ethics Evolution Feminist Theology Film Reviews Gandhi Gospel of Mark Gun Control Hinduism Immigration Reform Interfaith Islam JFK Judaism Jungian Spirituality Lectionary Commentary Lent Letters to the Editor LGBT Marriage MLK Multiculturalism Mysticism Nonviolent Activism Occupy Paganism (Earth-centered Religions) Parables Paul Pluralism Politics Process Theology Quantum Physics Requiescat In Pace Seminary and Divinity School Sermon Series Retrospective Sermons Spiritual Direction Spiritual Practices Stewardship (Fundraising) The Book of J The Wheel of the Year (Paganism) Theoblogger Challenge Triathlon Uncategorized Unitarian Universalism Worship Resources Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2026 May 2026 March 2026 November 2025 October 2025 August 2025 February 2025 December 2024 October 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 August 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 August 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 August 2009 July 2009 May 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian tradition refers to its pastors as "elders"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterian Anglican Orthodox Catholic