Bill Tammeus

Simon Critchley's book raises the question: Is mysticism still of any use? Mostly his answer is yes. But he reminds readers that when we're dealing with mysticism, we're dealing with fire. So we must be cautious.

In his book 52 Masses, author Daniel Markham chronicles his quest to attend Mass in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Book review: Loyola University's nationally beloved basketball team chaplain, 103-year-old Sr. Jean Delores Schmidt, has written a delightful memoir that gives the Catholic Church some much-needed positive press.

Author Barbara Mahany urges readers to be attentive so they will notice and fall in love with what she calls "God's first sacred text" and what St. Augustine called the book of nature — the natural world in which we live.

Any hope for the church, Fr. W. Paul Jones insists, depends on raising up a faithful remnant in the midst of a church and culture that are shaking themselves apart. Facing reality is critical.

Book review: While these essays make the case against President Donald Trump, in the end they are less about the president and his policies than they are about evangelicals and their abandonment of principle.

Book Review: Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson has become an important prophetic voice calling his nation — our nation — to do the right thing on behalf of the very people Jesus told his followers to care for: the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, the oppressed.

Book Review: Alec Ryrie's new book is a good guide on unbelief's mercurial history. He concludes that unbelief came in two models — one based on anger, one on anxiety.

Book review: Samuel L. Perry conducted lots of interviews, which make up the most interesting part of this work; we get to hear from real humans who've been using pornography and who are wrestling with feelings of guilt and sin because of it.

Book Review: Over and over, the author must confront the reality that Christians — mostly Catholics — brutalized one another: "Was this the Rwanda I grew up in? What had happened to humanity?"

Review: From the time of Pope Gregory's invention of the life story of Mary Magdalene, she has been used and misused for countless theological, ecclesial and even political purposes. She has been nothing if not what Margaret Arnold calls "a compelling and malleable image."

Book review: Author Jemar Tisby recounts Christianity's dismal record on racism in the U.S. — and despite considerable progress, it's a record that is still being written.

Book review: In books and other writings since introducing the world to the Gnostic Gospels, Princeton professor Elaine Pagels has asked important questions about faith and its sources. But until now she has not explored in depth what may be the foundational question about religion: why it exists at all.

A small c catholic: The Catholic Church might be healthier if people in the pews recognized that they are the church and that it's their responsibility to hold their ordained leaders accountable.

A small c catholic: It should not shock you to learn that somewhere today religious and or political thugs are dreaming up ways to attack our national electric power grid, our internet, our water supply, transportation system, economy and electoral systems.

A small c catholic: One of my sisters emailed her siblings as this border-crossing story grew hot in the news. "I have a story about being separated from a parent," she told us.

The events of 1968 made it a year of singular consequence for both church and society. Fifty years later, we have a perfect moment for Catholics and Protestants to assess our journeys and learn from our different experiences. 

A small c catholic: It appears many Catholics didn't get much encouragement to read the Bible. Yet we Protestants sometimes get so focused on the Bible that it becomes an idol. For all people in the pews, it is vital to be biblically literate.

A small c catholic: We Christians live in a sometimes-frustrating interim. Catholic and Protestant sources assert that the reign of God has started but hasn't reached full bloom. Yet the Gospel invites to see the world in a unique way.

A small c catholic: Norm made Kansas City a more humane place, and his friends want to honor the late priest by equipping more people to get engaged in community development.