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Matthew LoftusFormation

“Look at this ear I cut off, Lord!”

When a 19-year-old is in the cage stage, it's understandable. When a man three times his age still is, it's sad.

Rachel Roth AldhizerFeaturedFormation

Two Truths for Dark Days - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Like many parents, I’ve sent my kindergartener to school recently with a pit in my stomach. Horror of the recent school shooting has ripped across the nation in the last week. My mind is preoccupied with terror. My kindergartener attends […]

Joseph RheaFeaturedFormation

The Ministry of Salt - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to […]

Joshua HeavinFeaturedFormation

Deconversion and the Cross - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

What has God promised us about our lives, in the here and now? One of the earliest works of Christian theology is Origen of Alexandria’s On First Principles; a case can be made that it is our oldest, extant text […]

Matthew EmersonFeaturedFormation

Descent - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

At the beginning of The Divine Comedy, in Canto I of Inferno, Dante opens with these famous lines:

Bruce ClarkFeaturedChurchFormation

Epiphany: How an Enchanted World Drew Outsiders to God - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

A number of years ago, a wise parent shared with me an insight for which I have been repeatedly grateful: One reason God gives us children is so that we adults can [re]discover nature. This has proven true on numerous […]

John EgerFeaturedEvangelicalismFormation

Deconstruction, Reconstruction and Replacement: Building Near the “Yawning Abyss” - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Deconstruction to some degree seems duty free. That individuals subtract parts and pieces of their lives that don’t fit and then figure out what to fill in those abscesses. As we enter into a cultural field of reconstruction (I’m hearing […]

Pieter ValkFeaturedCultureChurchFormation

Vocational Singleness is a Gospel Cornerstone - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Having begun the work of bringing his kingdom on earth, Christ promised to redeem all of creation. He promised fullness of life to those who would follow him and blessing to their neighbors. Yet many believers offer timid testimonies about […]

Joshua HeavinFeaturedFormation

Christmas "Time" is Here - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

“Quid est enim tempus?” “So what is time?”[1] Pangs of nostalgia for innocence lost, discontent with reality present, and some combination of fear, uncertainty, or despair about the future can combine to make Christmas an especially difficult time. Recently, two […]

Ian Harber and Patrick MillerFeaturedChurchFormation

My AI Spiritual Director

After years working as a doctor in a hospital, a friend shared the most frustrating part of her job: patients whose online, amateur medical research weighs more heavily in their decision making than her professional opinion. She ended with a […]

Andrew BarberFeaturedFormation

Dante Was Right: Suffering and Our Journey Toward God - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

“Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself/ In a dark wood, the right road lost.” These are the famous opening lines of Dante’s Divine Comedy and, even if you hate what follows, their brevity and archetypal power are hard […]

R. Lucas StampsFeaturedFormation

Pursue Obscurity - Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

Craig Bartholomew, who has been a friend and mentor to many of us younger Christian scholars, often repeats the admonition: “pursue obscurity.” It is not enough simply to accept obscurity, if it happens to be our lot. Rather, there is […]