The Archive

Every essay.

Rachel Roth AldhizerFamilyFeaturedembodiment

Eyes to See: On Disability, Spiritual Sight, and the Holy Spirit - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

When I was pregnant with my son David Samuel, born in the heat of last July, I wondered if I could make a sort of bargain with God. I knew David would be disabled, and I prayed either that God […]

Jake MeadorChurch

Getting Practical About Doctors of the Church - Commonplaces

Continuing on my reflections on ecclesial renewal as it relates to Keller’s proposal, let’s keep talking about the problem of how to revitalize the lost ecclesial office, “doctor of the church.” What we know is two-fold: First, there are problems […]

Jake MeadorFeaturedCurrent Politics

The Culture War Comes Home - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

The culture war arrived in my hometown a few weeks ago with the approval of a new fairness ordinance by the Lincoln City Council. The ordinance is designed to provide protections against harassment and discrimination for LGBT+ people in Lincoln. […]

Paul Frank SpencerFeatured

Love in A Pillar of Salt - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Noah Gundersen, for as long as I’ve been aware of him, has been my quintessential example of an artist whose art clearly depicts his departure from faith. He shares honestly about his doubts much more than his beliefs. He is […]

Jake MeadorEconomics

Christian Publications in a Post-Christian Context - Commonplaces

We know there are two models that work for financing media jobs right now. The first model is to work for a print legacy institution that was well-positioned to weather the transition to digital and is now flush with subscription […]

Randall FowlerPoliticsFeatured

The Axis of Evil Turns 20: Reflections on the State of the Union - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Given the state of the world, I expect that the president’s speech tonight will garner more viewers than it normally would. To the average viewer, the president’s State of the Union address can come across as a drawn out pep […]

Matthew LoftusCultureHistory

patriotism good, nationalism bad? - Doctors Without Boredom

Nationalism may not be the boogeyman you want it to be, but it might be the petard which by nationalists are hoisting themselves.

David MooreFeaturedEvangelicalism

Thinking Christian: Essays on Testimony, Accountability, and the Christian Mind - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

James Spencer crossed my radar in a rather unlikely way. My friend, Allison, told me about the Moody Center which I proceeded to check out. Spencer, a former academic dean at Moody Bible Institute, is now the president of the […]

Jake MeadorChurchBook Reviews

Dawson on the Other-Worldliness of Christianity - Commonplaces

Dawson: But though the religion of that age was intensely other-worldly, its other-worldliness had a very different character from much that we have come to associate with the word in its modern pietist form. It was collective rather than individualist, […]

Ryan McCormickFeaturedHistory

Christian Historiography and American History - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Over the past year, parents and conservative activists have clashed with teachers and school officials over how the history of race in America is taught in the classroom. The rhetoric on both sides has been heated, with debate centering specifically […]

Jake MeadorChurchBook Reviews

Dawson on How the West Got Saved - Commonplaces

Dawson: Unlike Christian Byzantium, Christian Rome represents only a brief interlude between paganism and barbarism. There were only eighteen years between Theodosius’s closing of the temples and the first sack of the Eternal City by the barbarians. The great age […]

Joshua HrenFeatured

Contemplative Realism: The Germinal Yearnings of a New Literary Movement - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

“Realists do not fear the results of their study.” —Dostoevsky Maybe I was a twenty-something romantic haunting the East Side of Milwaukee. A draught stole past the cream city bricks, trespassed the strips of sackcloth patching the window. Once a […]