Exploring Faith and Spirituality

Religion

Mental Health and Spirituality: Finding Balance Between Dua and Therapy

Are you struggling to balance your faith with the challenges of mental health? As Muslims, we face unique questions when it comes to well-being: How can we maintain our spiritual strength while add...

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Caldey Island abuse report: monks agree to ‘no touch’ policy for visitors

Report recommends monks not be allowed to give pastoral advise or pose for selfiesMonk abused children for decades ‘in plain sight’, review says An abbey on a Welsh island where dozens of children ...

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My Top 10 Theology Stories of 2024

Since 2008, when I began compiling an annual list of important theology stories, Christianity has been receding across the West. And while many years include some glimmer of hope, generally the out...

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Themelios 49.3

The new December 2024 issue of Themelios has 234 pages of editorials, articles, and book reviews. It is freely available in three formats: (1) PDF, (2) web version, and (3) Logos Bible Software (co...

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Why Jesus Reigns in His Resurrection (and Why This Matters for Us)

One of my favorite songs is “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. While the song represents what’s best about ’80s music, it also gets at a profound truth. Consider something as ...

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Monk abused children for decades on Welsh island ‘in plain sight’, review says

Thaddeus Kotik groomed, raped and sexually assaulted boys and girls on Caldey Island despite repeated complaintsA monk was able to abuse children for four decades on an island off the Welsh coast d...

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Modernity Makes Us Spiritually Sick: Or Why You Should Read Byung-Chul Han

At the beginning of this decade, the entire Western world saw an existential intermission unknown in living memory. Like the wind and waves at Jesus’s rebuke, everything ceased. The COVID-19 pandem...

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Pastoral Authority in the Age of Podcasts

Have you noticed the subtle shift in how congregations seek spiritual guidance? Where congregants once began with “My grandmother always said . . .” they now regularly begin with “I was listening t...

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Don’t Downplay the Pain of Suffering

Suffering. How can one small word hold so much complexity? It can elicit: fear, dread, anxiety, bitterness, anger, and panic. It can also stir up: courage, strength, growth, humility, and faith. S...

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‘They covered up child rape’: how the New Orleans archdiocese protected a priest who preyed on children

An elderly priest’s guilty plea exposes the church’s history of shielding predators in its midst for decadesIn the case of serial child molester and retired Catholic priest Lawrence Hecker, the cov...

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My Cancer Gave Me Joy

I’ve always dreaded cancer. When I’d drive past cancer clinics, I’d pray for the people inside. That dread became more personal four months ago. When I woke up from my regular colonoscopy, they wh...

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‘Gladiator II’ and Rumblings of a Christian Revolution

As period epics go, Gladiator II is vintage Ridley Scott: strong on spectacle and style but only loosely tethered to historical accuracy. From Napoleon (2023) to Exodus (2014) to Kingdom of Heaven ...

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Mary review – turgid bibical tale has you rooting for Anthony Hopkins’ hammy Herod

The veteran actor’s pleasurably zealous turn could be given twice as much screen time in what feels like a wade through dull dramatisations of bits of scriptureYou know the way Dracula likes to del...

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Farewell, then, Justin Welby. Good to see that you have already forgiven yourself | Marina Hyde

The archbishop of Banterbury could have used his speech to express remorse to victims of abuse. But then there wouldn’t have been any room for lolzI imagine the outgoing archbishop of Canterbury do...

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Tortured, Imperfect, and Held by Jesus: One Mother’s Journey Across the Dark River

My two earliest memories of my mother couldn’t be more different. The pleasant one is our evening routine: She’d pull me onto her lap to recite the Lord’s Prayer and sing “The Old Rugged Cross” unt...

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The Beechers: A Cautionary Tale for Christian Activists

Which family in American history was the most influential? It depends on whether we mean most influential in industry, politics, or other spheres. But there can be no question that in the history o...

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How Music Helps Us Understand the Meaning of Advent and Christmas

Isn’t it fascinating how melody, harmony, and even chord progressions in music can stir our hearts to worship God and remind us of the beauty of his character? In this episode of TGC Podcast, Brett...

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Conclave review – Ralph Fiennes shines as papal election results in high-camp gripper

Fiennes is broodingly compelling as a potential English pope caught up in murky Vatican intrigue around choosing the next pontiffWho knew that the laborious process of democracy, of simply voting o...

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On Thanksgiving, Go Beyond Gratitude

Luke 17:11–19 tells the story of 10 lepers calling to Jesus for healing, but only one returns to give thanks. Around Thanksgiving, this passage is often treated as a moralistic lesson: “You need to...

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Avoid the Experience Trap This Christmas

My credit card dreads the months between August and February. After surviving back-to-school shopping and the onslaught of autumn and winter holidays, I wince at the thought of how much time I’ve w...

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The Calvin You Haven’t Read

John Calvin died in 1564. His works have been continually read since his death. What more can we learn from his sermons at this point in history? A recent collection of sermons, translated into En...

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