Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

Catholicism

Select a Category abortion Advent AI Angels Artificial intelligence atheism attention baptism Baptists beauty belief Benedictines Bible bicycling Big Bird books Bovina Camaldoli hermitage Canada Catholicism cats certainty change Christianity Christmas Collegeville Covid-19 creativity Development of Western Civilization dogs doubt Easter Enneagram Epiphany Episcopal ethics Eucharist evil extroverts Facebook faith family fear flowers forgiveness freedom friends God goodness grace happiness heaven hell history Holy Spirit Holy Week hope human nature humility humor idolatry incarnation introverts irreverence Islam Jeanne Jesus Joe Biden joy Judaism justice Kamala Harris knowledge Lent listen literature liturgy love Marsue Memorial Day miracles movies music mystery mythology NPR Old Testament optimism paradox peace Penguins philosophy piano podcast politics power prayer Protestantism Providence College Religion Rhode Island sabbatical sacrament science seeing silence Simone Weil Socrates soul sports St. John's College stories suffering tattoo teaching technology television theology thinking time tolerance transcendence travel trees trust truth Uncategorized Vermont wisdom wonder writing

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 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 July 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 September 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

May 2018

May 03, 2018

One Nation, Under God?

I was invited earlier this week by an online publication that I write for occasionally...

April 2018

April 24, 2018

The A$$hole Saint

I come from a hardcore Protestant world, a world in which we did not do...

April 19, 2018

A Liberal and a Christian Walk Into a Bar . . .

Not long ago, The Atlantic published an article by Emma Green entitled “Democrats Have a...

April 08, 2018

There Was Not a Needy Person Among Them . . .

A couple of days ago, the following from Franklin Graham came across my Twitter feed:...

April 03, 2018

God and Darwin walk into a bar . . .

A Benedictine monk once told me that Darwin has taught us more about God than...

March 2018

March 04, 2018

On Being Made of Meat

“What’s the difference between chili con carne and chili con queso?” I ask my freshman...

February 2018

February 13, 2018

Lent is for Lovers

This year, for the first time since 1945, Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fall on...

February 06, 2018

Two Plus Two Makes Four

In J. M. Coetzee’s strange and fascinating novel The Childhood of Jesus, the precocious child...

January 2018

January 21, 2018

Dunkin’ Donuts and Sacred Spaces

I currently am working my way slowly through Walter Isaacson’s wonderful biography of Leonardo da...

January 14, 2018

Piercing the Silence

Every religion which does not confirm that God is hidden is not true. Blaise Pascal...

December 2017

December 29, 2017

The Hungry Person’s Bread–Best of “Bearings Online” #5

I occasionally write articles for Bearings Online, the online publication of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical...

November 2017

November 16, 2017

Spiritual Punctuation

In my life-long spiritual journey, the decade of my twenties was the charismatic decade. No,...

November 10, 2017

Evangelical Atheism

I just started a new unit in my General Ethics classes with fifty juniors and...

November 08, 2017

I Could Do That

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle, a thousand pieces or more. There is no box showing what...

November 05, 2017

Silence and Submission

Over the past few weeks, Americans have been reminded once again of the misogyny and...

November 02, 2017

A Lonely Pawn

Have you never felt like one of those pawns forgotten in a corner of the...

October 2017

October 22, 2017

Have You Not Lived?

For the past several years my upper-division (juniors and seniors) classes have included an ongoing...

October 08, 2017

Learning to be Content

Autumn is my favorite season, and October is my favorite month. This is not surprising...

September 2017

September 21, 2017

Flesh and Blood

What is bothering me incessantly is the question of what Christianity really is, or indeed...

August 2017

August 22, 2017

How I can be a Philosopher and a Christian at the same time

There is a big difference between "Christendom" (an institution) and "Christianity" (a way of life)--it...

August 15, 2017

What People of Faith Share in Common with Atheists

The more I realize why my faith is important to me, the more I realize...

August 06, 2017

Entertaining Angels

Angels show up in all shapes and sizes, in all sorts of situations and scenarios....

July 2017

July 14, 2017

The Western Tradition in Eighteen Windows

Your assignment is to name the eighteen most important figures in the Western liberal arts...

May 2017

May 13, 2017

Everybody Must Get Stoned

One of the readings from this Sunday's lectionary is the story of the stoning of...

April 2017

April 22, 2017

One Heart and Soul

“What does the Lord require of us?" Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your...

April 20, 2017

Dodge City Ethics

A Old Wild West conversation in Tombstone between a consumptive dentist and the sheriff's younger...

March 2017

March 27, 2017

I Don’t Know

Let me tell you here first, “trust in God” has never floated my boat as...

March 22, 2017

Come In, and Come In

Once many years ago, a couple I was close friends with was having marital problems....

March 20, 2017

What Silence Sounds Like

Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk to you again. “The Sound of...

March 19, 2017

St. Joseph the Worker

In my religious tradition, we didn’t do saints. We did do Christmas pageants—big time. I...

Related posts from Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

The Lonely Pawn: On Faith, Doubt, and Meaning

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Agency

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Love: When a Chatbot Becomes a...

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Transcendence

Freelance Christianity

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos