The Archive

Every essay.

Vika PecherskyFeaturedEvangelicalism

Karl Barth's Warning for Evangelical Theology - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

“What is culture in itself except the attempt of man to be man and thus to hold the good gift of his humanity in honor and to put it to work?” —Karl Barth In 1957, Karl Barth delivered his lecture […]

Mitch EastBibleFeaturedFormation

This Is My Body Given for You - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

On the night Christ was betrayed by Judas, Our Lord celebrated the Passover with all of his brothers, including the traitor himself. Other than the disciple Jesus loved, eleven of His chosen men would later abandon him. In light of […]

Miles SmithFeaturedEvangelicalismCulture WarCurrent Politics

The Uselessness of "Christian Nationalism" - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Over the past several years the topic of Christian nationalism has occupied the minds of Evangelical intellectuals and pastors. No less than half a dozen books have been written on the subject in the past year. Three of them have […]

James WaldenFeatured

Deconstruction and a Theology of the Cross - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Over the past few years a large number of American Christians have shared that they have “deconstructed,” or are in the process of “deconstructing” their faith. The term is an interesting one. I’ve often wondered why “faith deconstruction” in particular […]

Skyler Flowers and Michael GrahamFeaturedChurchEvangelicalism

One Year Later: Reflecting on Evangelicalism's Six-Way Fracturing - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Skyler Flowers also contributed to this essay. Reflections on the Six Way Fracturing of Evangelicalism a Year Later Critical Race Theory. Afghanistan. Verdicts in Floyd and Arbery cases. Kyle Rittenhouse. Vaccine Mandates. Russia invades Ukraine. Roe v. Wade overturned. Uvalde […]

Jake MeadorFeaturedCultureEvangelicalismCulture WarCurrent Politics

Shame - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Shame is, amongst other things, the problem of how to understand yourself and your relationship to neighbor in the aftermath of offending or hurting your neighbor. Given the fragmentation of our society, we shouldn’t be surprised that no one seems […]

Jake MeadorChurch

Being Deep in History - Commonplaces

Between the Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon there were 126 years—years that were fraught with contentious debate within the church over essential Christian doctrines. We tend to forget that now as those debates have become so remote that we don’t […]

Jake MeadorFood

The Cocktail as an American Artifact - Commonplaces

From David Wondrich’s Imbibe: Anyone who has spent any time pondering the origins of the Cocktail—be it for the months or years it takes to write a book or the minutes or seconds it takes to internalize a Dry Martini—will agree […]

Jake MeadorFeaturedCurrent Politics

Orbanism and the Revolution - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

One of the chief difficulties about the conversation between the Augustinian Liberal Christian Right and the Reactionary Christian Right to this point has been a lack of clarity about the actual political principles and norms that reactionary conservative evangelicals affirm.

Jake Meador

Car-Free with Kids - Commonplaces

Gracy’s latest newsletter is worth your time. She also made a number of observations that have overlapped with my own experience as we’ve been a single-car family with four kids. Here’s Gracy: As I proceeded to and from school, I […]

Christina StantonFeaturedEvangelicalism

Hephzibah House: A Beacon of Hospitality in New York City - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

And thou shalt be called Hephzibah… For the Lord delighteth in thee. —Isaiah 62:4 It’s no secret that New York City can feel cold, confusing, and unwelcoming to newcomers. And that was true even before two years of COVID shutdowns […]

Derek RishmawyFeaturedCurrent Politics

The Triviality of Pro-Choice Memes - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Last week SCOTUS handed down its decision in the Dobbs case and changed the course of American legal, moral, and, well, general history, by striking down Roe v. Wade, ending the nation-wide regime of abortion-on-demand across virtually all nine months […]