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July 2018

July 20, 2018

Benevolence vs. Fundamentalism

We blogged about Dan Hitchens' article on politicians who parade their Catholic identity while also...

June 2018

June 08, 2018

Europe Is Neither Secularist, nor Devout

The Pew Research Center has carried out a study of religion in Europe, finding that...

March 2018

March 20, 2018

Secularism or Liberal Religion?

Having spent time lately in the "happiest" countries that are also allegedly among the least...

March 19, 2018

Religion Is For Those in Need

The 10 happiest countries one earth are among the least religious; conversely, the 10 least...

January 2018

January 26, 2018

Why Secularists Have Problems with Forgiveness

There is currently no real concept for forgiveness in the secular world, no mechanism for...

January 25, 2018

How Should Churches Respond to the New Findings about American Religion?

In our recent post "Only Moderate Religion Is On the Decline," we reported on new research...

January 23, 2018

“Only Moderate Religion Is On the Decline”

We keep hearing statistics about religious decline in America. But new research has shot that...

October 2017

October 03, 2017

“Religion Is More Like Sex Than School”

Research is showing that religion is not just a learned behavior or intellectual assent to...

September 2017

September 08, 2017

Secularization Comes From Sex

Cohabiting couples tend to stay away from church. So do others engaged in sexual practices...

June 2017

June 26, 2017

Most Christians have non-Christian worldviews

A new study from Barna has found that most "practicing Christians" in America--defined as those...

March 2017

March 15, 2017

Are atheists dying out?

An article in Evolutionary Psychological Science looks at the "secularization hypothesis," the assumption that modernity would...

February 2017

February 13, 2017

Why is Cedar Rapids so Godless?

Iowa defines the American heartland, with its staunch Midwestern values and rural American virtues. Though its...

October 2016

October 17, 2016

Charles Taylor wins philosophy prize

There is the Nobel Prize for various great achievements, and now there is the Berggruen...

September 2016

September 26, 2016

Teaching predestination at Berkeley

The New York Times has a fascinating article by Berkeley history professor Jonathan Sheehan about...

August 2016

August 22, 2016

Are Christians the powerful or the marginalized?

In the course of a post on why so many evangelicals are supporting Donald Trump,...

May 2016

May 31, 2016

Britain now has more “nones” than Christians

Great Britain now has more people who say they have "no religion" (48%) than say...

December 2015

December 07, 2015

From non-religious families to ISIS

It turns out that 80% of the French citizens who joined ISIS come from non-religious...

October 2015

October 27, 2015

The three types of secularism

I stumbled upon this article from seven years ago--another one by the great sociologist of...

October 19, 2015

From “God is dead” to “too many gods”

Peter Berger, a Lutheran in the ELCA, is an important sociologist of religion. Back in...

October 15, 2015

Why do so few Europeans go to church?

The distinguished sociologist of religion Peter Berger once promoted "the secularization thesis," arguing that as...

May 2015

May 06, 2015

Being Christian without believing in God

In Judaism, it's fairly common to hear, "I'm an atheist, but I'm culturally Jewish." So...

February 2015

February 10, 2015

How (Not) to be Secular

I was one of the many judges of the Christianity Today Book Awards, charged with...

October 2014

October 08, 2014

Resenting Christian compassion

Ross Douthat has a rather brilliant essay in which he considers whether the church is...

August 2014

August 01, 2014

Lutherans in exile

Carl Trueman argues that Christianity is going into a kind of cultural exile, and he...

December 2013

December 19, 2013

Post-Christian vs. non-Christian

"Post-Christian" does not mean the same as "non-Christian," observes John O'Sullivan. A "post-Christian" society is...

March 2013

March 13, 2013

Secular prayer

Most legislative bodies in this country begin with a prayer, whether by an official chaplain...

February 2013

February 05, 2013

What consenting adults do in private

"Jesus Christ in the conversation embarrassed her the way sex did her mother." So said...

January 2013

January 18, 2013

Lance Armstrong in Oprah’s confessional

We Lutherans believe in confession and absolution. That happens in every Divine Service, and, when...

December 2012

December 13, 2012

Persecuting “religious pathologies”

The French government is planning a crack-down on people with what is being called "religious...

March 2012

March 22, 2012

Has Lutheranism caused secularism?

A Danish scholar looks at the influence of Protestantism--specifically, Lutheranism--on modern Scandinavian culture. Some of...