All posts by Jake Meador

Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studied English and History. He lives in Lincoln, NE with his wife Joie, their daughter Davy Joy, and sons Wendell, Austin, and Ambrose. Jake's writing has appeared in Commonweal, Christianity Today, Fare Forward, the University Bookman, Books & Culture, First Things, National Review, Front Porch Republic, and The Run of Play and he has written or contributed to several books, including "In Search of the Common Good," "What Are Christians For?" (both with InterVarsity Press), "A Protestant Christendom?" (with Davenant Press), and "Telling the Stories Right" (with the Front Porch Republic Press).

In Memoriam: Timothy Keller (1950-2023)

The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet...

/ May 19, 2023

The Doom of Choice

Choice is one of Tolkien’s great preoccupations in The Lord of the Rings. He is fascinated by the existential challenge that confronts one at certain moments in life. I do not think they come often. You’re presented with two options. In...

/ May 16, 2023

Easter

/ April 9, 2023

Good Friday

As is our annual custom, we are not publishing any new essays, reviews, or other content during the tail end of Holy Week. Instead, hear these musical reflections and consider the extent to which God went to rescue his people.

/ April 7, 2023

Mandalorian Dogma

Zealots do not ordinarily fare well in popular American entertainment. The High Sparrow of Game of Thrones was routinely shown to be cruel, power hungry, and devious. His true believer identity turned out merely to be a front, the pathway...

/ March 20, 2023
francis-schaeffer

The PR Style in Christian Media

By now the discourse surrounding Joshua Ryan Butler’s book excerpt published at the Gospel Coalition has in some ways exhausted itself. To be sure, Butler’s intentions for the text — to highlight and commend the beauty of the Christian sex...

/ March 13, 2023
vocation-writing

Renewing Public Protestantism: Online Media

(this post could be understood as a companion piece to the recent statement regarding a renewal of public Protestantism) If our traffic data is accurate, most of you reading this right now are reading on your phone. Over the last...

/ February 23, 2023

Toward a Renewed Public Protestantism: The Beginnings of a Manifesto

In his book Bad Religion, Ross Douthat suggests that the 1950s were the high water mark for Christianity in America. Amongst other things, church attendance was at its peak and each of America’s four defining ecclesial traditions were relatively strong....

/ February 13, 2023

The Reality of Fear and the Presence of Reality: Suffering and Cultural Renewal

These are the remarks I gave as part of my plenary lecture at this year’s Eighth Day Institute Symposium in Wichita, KS. You can learn more about EDI’s work and sign up to support them as a member by visiting...

/ January 18, 2023

2022 Eliot Awards

I’m going to handle the Eliot Awards a little differently this year. I still am going to link to my favorite magazine writing of the year, but for a few reasons this year’s edition will not be as tightly organized...

/ December 27, 2022