US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church to pose with a Bible. Yes, Trump held the Bible like...
Author - Robyn Whitaker
Robyn Whitaker
Can I get a witness? Violence, racism and Christian response
This article is republished from Crosslight. Yet another black man has died this week as a result of police brutality in the USA. His name was George Floyd and his story ignited both rage and grief across Minneapolis...
Practicing religion and faith via Facebook
How do you celebrate religion and faith in time of coronavirus, when places of worship are closed? Many religious institutions have turned to the internet by streaming live videos, sending mp3 sermons via email and...
Pray, but stay away: holding on to faith in the time of coronavirus
Plagues of global proportions might seem biblical, but coronavirus is creating new challenges for faith leaders.
From virgin births to purity movements: Christians and their problem with sex
It took 400 years, but sometime in the early fifth century Christians transformed a tradition about Jesus’s miraculous virgin birth into a doctrine that inextricably connected sex with sin. It has plagued the church...
Hell, no! Halloween is not ‘satanic’ – it’s an important way to think about death
American televangelist Pat Robinson once claimed children who celebrate Halloween were unknowingly “worshipping Satan”. Despite the absurdity that a child dressing up as a witch is devil worship, the idea that Halloween...
God Forbid podcast | What is hell, and does anyone go there?
In popular culture, hell is often depicted as a place full of flames, demons and screaming people. Is this what Christians really believe? Join James and our panel of Christian theologians — each with a differing view...
What and where is heaven? The answers are at the heart of the Easter story
Robyn J. Whitaker, University of Divinity This is the second in a two-part series on heaven and hell by Bible scholar Robyn Whitaker. You can read her piece on hell here. My pious Baptist grandmother once shockingly...
What is hell, exactly? We might joke it’s other people, but the Bible has a more complicated answer
Robyn J. Whitaker, University of Divinity This is the first in a two-part series on heaven and hell by Bible scholar Robyn Whitaker. You can read her piece on heaven here. “This is hell” we might proclaim, midway...
A Christmas story: the arrival of a sweet baby boy – or a political power to change the world
Dear tiny Jesus, with your golden fleece diapers, with your tiny little fat balled-up fists … Dear 8 pound 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant so cuddly … So goes the...