Hope and suffering seem to lay at opposite poles of human experience. We hope to avoid or escape suffering, both for ourselves and for those we love. But what if hope — rather than being mere optimism or a pleasant disposition – is a virtue that grows and develops in suffering? Curt Thompson, Trinity Forum
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The language of the Bible has often been invoked in American political discourse through the centuries. Scripture has been quoted by suffragists and secessionists, invoked in arguments for (and against) American independence, the Civil War, and each succeeding conflict, and cited by virtually every President across parties. So how should we discern a faithful application
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From high art to pop culture, we are surrounded by images, stories, and metaphors from our earliest days. How do such symbols and metaphors shape our thinking, imagination, and assumptions — both as a person and as a people? Amidst the confusion and contradictions of current times, can we disentangle what in our thinking is
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Illustration by Bruce Van Patter Amid the growing polarization, covered-up abuses, schisms, and scandals roiling evangelicalism, studies show that many American Christians – and even many pastors – are increasingly disillusioned with and exhausted by what they experience at church. Wisdom is required to confront the challenge: how can we refocus on the Good News
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Our digital devices promise connectivity and enlightenment in exchange for our attention. Yet attending to these devices often leaves us feeling displaced, disconnected, and dispirited. How are we being changed by these ever-present technologies? Westmont College cultural sociologist and author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, Felicia Wu Song,
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In the midst of our heated contemporary geopolitical debates over immigration and refugee policy, it is all too easy to forget that the challenges around migration are as old as human sojourning, and the Bible speaks directly to the faithful about our orientation to and care for the strangers in our midst, with story after
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What does it mean to walk with God? The spiritual life is so often described as a walk, journey, or pilgrimage that it can be easy to dismiss the practice of walking as a mere metaphor. But in God Walk, author Mark Buchanan explores the way that the act of walking has profound implications for
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We are in an anxious age. By some estimates, a third of all Americans will struggle with anxiety in their lives, and nearly 20% currently suffer from an anxiety disorder. For those suffering the mental distortions of anxiety, life can be difficult, and hope elusive. And for many Christians who have tried and failed to
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We don't often talk about the courage required to face ordinary life. Such common human challenges as sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness may cause us to experience life more as a burden than a gift. For many, this struggle is a constant one. In his new book, On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden
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What if we viewed reading as not just a personal hobby or a pleasurable indulgence but as a spiritual practice that deepens our faith? In her new book, Reading for the Love of God, award-winning author and Trinity Forum Senior Fellow Jessica Hooten Wilson explores how Christian thinkers—including Augustine, Julian of Norwich, Frederick Douglass, and
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