As part of our end of year coverage, we always include a recap of some of our best or most read pieces published in the past year.
You can find previous best of lists for previous years at Mere O with the links below:
Also, one brief note: To read these you will need to become a free email subscriber to Mere Orthodoxy. Everything in our archives is and will remain free to read, but we have this year started collecting email addresses in exchange for accessing any content older than one week on the website. We don't sell your information or share it with anyone. If you sign up as an email subscriber you're simply opting in to receive a once a week email update from us, which goes out every Thursday. But by opting in in that way you help strengthen our institution by helping us grow our email list.
One of the best and simplest ways to build robust online platforms is simply to build a large and engaged email list. When you rely on social media and search to drive traffic to your site, you're really putting yourself at the mercy of algorithms. Email gives online institutions direct access to their audience and helps protect them from the unpredictable behavior of large tech companies.
If you want to support our work beyond the free subscription level, you can also become a member of Mere Orthodoxy. Members receive the print journal (the next issue will be out in January), access to members-only emails, and can join our Discord, the Society of St. Anne's. The membership program has grown rapidly this year and is a key source of revenue to support our work of creating media for Christian and cultural renewal.
January
Rachel Welcher wrote about chastity as a virtue, drawing on the work of St Thomas and explaining why chastity matters not for utilitarian reasons, as often implied by purity culture proponents, but rather as an act of worship and obedience to God.
Brady Bowman argued that many "biblical" productivity strategies run the risk of misrepresenting the biblical text and misunderstanding the callings of Christian discipleship.
In one of the year's five most read essays, Josh Heavin argued that it's time to ban porn.
Our most read essay of the year was a piece I wrote reflecting on the past ten years in American evangelicalism.
February
In another of our five most read pieces from the year, Patrick Miller wrote about his church's encounter with "negative world," and how it did and didn't change their approach to evangelism and outreach.
Rhys Laverty argued that pastors should be paid a living wage.
In one of our five most read pieces this year, I wrote about my experience attending the Jordan Peterson "We Who Wrestle with God" lecture tour.
March
In one of our ten most read pieces this year, Matthew Loftus reviewed the Abigail Shrier book Bad Therapy.
In the fourth of our five most read pieces from the year, Cam Shaffer wrote about how to keep children Christian as they grow up in the church.
Stephen G. Adubato wrote about the decadence and lack of direction that so many of today's rising generation experienced as children and how that has continued to shape them as young adults.
April
Nadya Williams wrote about her family's extremely simple plan for homeschooling.
Matthew Arbo reflected on anxiety, with aid from Auden and Kierkegaard.
Seth Troutt wrote about some basic scripts or approaches to help explain what healthy masculinity looks like.
May
Wyatt Graham wrote on why institution building requires virtue.
First-time Mere O writer Samuel Heard wrote for us about "hyper-pleasures." It was our sixth most read piece this year, only a couple hundred views behind our fifth most read.
June
Skyler Flowers explained one of the most important concepts for understanding media and personal formation: garbage in, garbage out.
Seth Troutt wrote about how pastors and elders can wisely practice church discipline in the uniquely fraught cultural moment we are now in.
In another of our top ten pieces from the year, Miles Smith reviewed a number of exvangelical memoirs.
John Ehrett explained why so many people wrongly think of the Narnia tales as a kind of escapist literature.
July
Clayton Hutchins wrote a close reading of John Newton's beloved hymn "Amazing Grace."
Warren Kinghorn explained why John MacArthur's claim that PTSD, ADHD, and other similar ailments do not exist is wrong, but also why it is so hard for churches to have constructive conversations about these issues.
John Shelton wrote about why the right's "post-liberals" may find the task of actually governing far more challenging than the relatively simple work of publishing manifestos and building an audience.
August
In another of our top ten pieces this year, Patrick Miller warned against the dangers of allowing yourself to become distracted by institutional arsonists.
Rebecca Brewster Stevenson, with aid from Charles Dickens, warned against making one's status as a victim the center of one's identity.
I wrote about why it's really important to stop caring about Mark Driscoll.
Robert Cotton wrote about ancient conceptions of the demonic and the rise of AI.
September
Steven Wedgeworth warned about the dangers of the great quote.
October
Drake Osborn wrote about hosting a New York Times reporter at their church for a story about young men returning to church.
I wrote about a shift in evangelistic openness that has become more pronounced over the past several years.
In another of the year's top ten pieces, I wrote about a certain cramped sensibility that defines many Calvinistic Baptists I have known.
Miles Smith wrote about the evangelical rejection of "the tragic," as it related to this year's presidential election.
Matthew Lee Anderson reviewed the new book by Richard and Christopher Hays regarding the moral licitness of same-sex acts and relationships.
November
Richard Fowler offered a number of helpful observations about how a post-globalization world might create new challenges for Christian mission and discipleship.
Matt Martens wrote about why both presidential candidates were unacceptable choices.
Ross Byrd considered the depressingly frequent examples of pastoral corruption and moral failure and why the Christian exhortation to "be perfect," is so important.
I wrote about what the outcome of this election might suggest about the short-term future of American politics.
Print Revival
Finally, we were happily able to re-launch the print journal this fall. Here is a recap of what was in that issue. If you join as a member today, you can receive the next issue, which will be shipping out in January.
E. J. Hutchinson on despair, medieval and modern
Myles Werntz on bureaucracy
Brad Littlejohn on political authority
Matthew Miller on empty words
Ian Harber on the therapeutic
John Ahern interviewed Brittany Hurd about Psalm singing
Ross Byrd on Disney and Prometheus
I wrote on historic Protestantism and democratic liberalism
Peter Leithart on money
Stiven Peter on Aaron Renn's Negative World
Terence Sweeney on Michael Wear's Spirit in Our Politics
Thanks again to all of you for reading us this year.
Thanks as well to our email subscribers and especially to our members for supporting our work financially. We can't do what we do without your generosity.
Jake Meador
Jake Meador is the editor-in-chief of Mere Orthodoxy. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Commonweal, First Things, Books & Culture, The Dispatch, National Review, Comment, Christianity Today, and Plough. He lives in his hometown of Lincoln, NE with his wife and four children.
