Illustration of with two skeletons riding pale horses, mirroring each other, surrounded by apocalyptic imagery

The Glory of the Coming of the Lord

The last battle of Revelation informs and inspires the public sphere, whether or not the polarizing rhetoric explicitly refers to the Christian faith. By Austin Bogues

Autumn/Winter 2023

Featured

Collage illustration with ghostly image of George Floyd sewn together with protest images

Dis/appearing

Instead of a theodicy of progress, we need to enact a “hauntodicy of blackness” by staying with the dead and not moving on. By Biko Mandela Gray

Illustration with multiple figures of Thelonious Monk behind a single keyboard, his fingers dancing across the keys

The Dancing Monk and the Rhythm of Divine Life

Thelonious Monk’s jazz aesthetic can help us reframe theological thinking, generate new categories, and envision radically inclusive modes of being in the world. By Raymond Carr

Painting of older Black man with young boy nestled on his lap, learning the banjo in their kitchen

Memory, History, and the Ethics of Reparations

Henry Ossawa Tanner’s global pursuit of reconciliation is a cautionary tale if we are going to take corporate and civic responsibility for the crime of enslavement. By Terrence L. Johnson

Dialogue

Science and Religion: A Pragmatist Critique

Magical action is a supplement to practical action—a vital means of making life more manageable under trying conditions. By Michael D. Jackson

Illustration of man leaning down to speak to the soil, with garden tools in the background.
Clay vessel with Hebrew inscription inside and drawing of a hand raised in a gesture of blessing on the outside

Trans Converts, Living Faith

Grappling with faith in the face of anti-trans violence. By Nicole Malte Collins

Illustration of burial tower glowing with light, with vultures flying around and above it

Under a Birdless Sky

There has been a necessary adaptation of funerary rituals among the Zoroastrian community in diaspora. By Toby Cox

Tree growing out over the shoreline of Walden Pond

A Heart-Shaped Rock

Emerson never relinquished his belief in the intimate colloquy of mind and matter. By Susan Lanzoni

In Review

Illustration of a tikling bird. Inside the bird are figures representing the author's great grandfather and Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Books

Paths of Coincidence in Thomas Hardy

The melodramatic aspects of Thomas Hardy’s novels lend themselves to an examination of the ordinary uncertainty of life—the landscape of Michael Jackson’s Coincidences: Synchronicity, Verisimilitude, and Storytelling. By Maria Cecilia Holt

Detail of Van Gogh painting of tree roots

Required Reading

Rooting in Relationality

Recent publications on plant consciousness invite us to rethink our entanglements with plant life and our understanding of ourselves among other species. By Natalia Schwien Scott

Forgiveness: An Alternate Account book cover

Books

Reframing Forgiveness

A Q&A with Matthew Ichihashi Potts on his latest book, Forgiveness: An Alternative Account. By Suzie Greco

Poetry

On the Brilliance of Your Story

By Adrie Kusserow

a prayer | to restore

By Cherise Morris

Perspective

Autumn Winter 2023 issue cover

Improvisations in the Key of Life

Inspired by Raymond Carr’s metaphor of musicality and theological language, I would say that the authors here are searching for a new key, calling us to a “radical dynamism” as they model the kinds of improvisation needed to meet the stark realities of our time. By Wendy McDowell

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