Passages, characters and questions
RSS for Bible study
What happens when a government investigation stops examining what Christians did and starts interrogating what Christians believe? That is the religious liberty alarm now being sounded after an Australian pastor faced questions from lawmakers not merely about political activity,
A familiar line of encouragement turns out, in its own setting, to be about something harder than success.
While advising the bishops of the Church of England on the term Christian nationalism earlier this year, Luke Bretherton, regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at the University of Oxford, had a straightforward piece of advice: Don’t use it. “The term Christian national
Veteran gospel recording artist Marvin Sapp announced in July his new distribution deal with Roc Nation, the entertainment company founded by rapper and businessman Jay-Z. The partnership, Sapp remarked at the time, is a “reminder that—as the scripture says—with God all things ar
Before Jesus spoke a word in public ministry, he stepped into a river and let himself be baptized, and the Gospel of Matthew tells us what happened next.
Something terrifying is happening around one of Christianity’s most foundational beliefs. Scripture warned long ago that a time would come when sound doctrine would be challenged. Pastor Adam Hamilton, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Kansas and longtime pastor of the me
For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have read the biblical account of Jesus stepping into the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. Now, an archaeologist says ancient ruins, centuries-old records, and Scripture itself are converging on the location of that defining mome
Before Jesus named what was dangerous, he turned his disciples toward the one question that mattered most.
After warning his disciples to beware of getting subtly infected with the toxic doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus asked, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt. 16:13, NKJV throughout). Our Lord knew the Jewish religious rulers stressed the law, posses
Two galvanizing events, 25 years apart, convinced many people that religious faith poses an existential threat to American democracy. On September 11, 2001, it was Islamic theology that motivated the terror attacks aimed at the World Trade Center, the White House, and the Capitol
The doctrine of revelation depends on God speaking, and God reveals himself as speaking in a Trinitarian way.
Esther is often called the Bible's most political book, and the thing it leaves unsaid may be its clearest word to a tired reader.
Even when Americans disagree vehemently on just about everything else, most agree on this: American politics is broken. In one study, nearly 6 out of 10 respondents refused to name a single strength in America’s political system, and only 4 percent of respondents said that system
Scripture does not tell us to stop feeling anxious; it tells us where to take the anxiety.
A short study on worry, and the quiet discipline of living within a single day.
The account in 1 Samuel is read often and claimed widely, so it is worth reading slowly for what it actually says.
A story so familiar it is often borrowed carries more than we tend to remember.
The story of David and Goliath has inspired believers for generations. Now, Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is taking the biblical showdown straight onto the campaign trail. Speaking at Inspiring Body of Christ Church in Dallas on Oct. 11, Talarico presented his political f
A rededicated church invites us to ask what makes any building holy, and what holds when the walls do not.
(RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes the rededication of a historic church in Virginia, a presidential inauguration at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and more.
I worry that the ambition of ‘High-Agency Christianity’ aligns more with the ideals of this world than with the countercultural values of the kingdom of God.
A short study on stillness, and why resting in God is an act, not an absence of one.
Contentment is not a mood that arrives on good days; it is a foundation you can build on.
God plants, tends and provides, and learning to receive what he grows in us is the beginning of contentment.
Scripture makes clear that God still plants a garden for himself, a kingdom of priests who put his rule on display in the world.
In a culture that measures life by more, Scripture teaches that godliness with contentment is itself a kind of wealth.
This list of recently published (or republished) theological texts includes books that can encourage Christians at various stages of spiritual maturity and equip them to serve the church.
A theology of enough is the foundation of contentment.
Some sins fade from view not because they end, but because the world around us stops counting them as sin.
Christians know well the biblical commands to be in the world but not of it (John 17:15–18) and to be conformed to God’s will rather than the pattern of fallen humanity (Rom. 12:1–2). Yet distinguishing what Scripture teaches from the influence of our surroundings is often more
A study on the place of evidence in a faith that was always meant to rest on more than evidence.
For generations, skeptics have attempted to pick apart the Bible, questioning whether its people existed, whether its places were real and whether its historical accounts could withstand serious scrutiny. But Dinesh D’Souza says archaeology has created a major problem for that ar
While technology has greatly expanded the availability of Scripture, a perfect storm of calamities has kept the Bible out of the hands of half a billion Christians around the globe. According to just-released data from the 2026 Bible Access List, the second such analysis from the
The deeper archaeologists dig beneath Jerusalem, the more of the Bible comes to life. From the Pool of Siloam to the ancient Pilgrimage Road leading toward the Temple Mount, discoveries across Jerusalem’s City of David are revealing a physical landscape remarkably familiar to any
Stillness is not idleness; it is the discipline of trusting God when we would rather act.
A short study on why the morning is the right hour to begin again.
The oldest question in worship — whether a thing is good — is answered not by instinct or by age, but by the word that measures everything else.
One of the most common questions Tyler Anson Newberry hears from young worship leaders is “How do I know if a song is good?” For Newberry, a Houston-based worship leader who has been in ministry for over 30 years, evaluating a new song takes only a few minutes. “I have an interna
We should show due deference to the Christian tradition, but Scripture still has pride of place as the sole, inspired, and inerrant Word of God.
How a network of pastors and influencers is repackaging segregationist theology—and finding an audience for it online.
A court case now moving toward a settlement conference offers a hard question for the study table: how does a community of faith hold truth and mercy together when someone stands accused?
Last week, I opened a forwarded email from a parishioner with a curious subject line: “The Gospel According to Claude.” The email linked to an article about pastors’ widespread use of Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot to aid in outlining and writing their sermons. As I contemplated m
(RNS) — A federal judge ruled a defamation claim filed by former professor David Sills, who lost his job to sexual misconduct allegations, could go forward against the SBC's Executive Committee, Guidepost Solutions, Al Mohler and Southern Seminary.
A short passage in Philippians offers a plain instruction for the mind that will not settle.
A new poll finds that a small but real share of people who use artificial intelligence now turn to it with spiritual questions, which makes it worth asking again how Scripture is meant to be studied.
(NPR) — The poll found that 11% of AI users have sought spiritual guidance from artificial intelligence, while 13% have used the technology to generate prayers, and 15% say they have used it to study Scripture.
A study on Matthew 11:28–30, and what it means to be given rest rather than told to find it.
A short line from an old song of trust asks us to stop before it asks us to believe.
