On Faith and Culture

Conservative Christians just lost their scholarly trump card on same-sex relationships
By Jonathan Merritt — April 8, 2024
(RNS) — Theologian Richard Hays' reversal comes at a bad time for those who oppose accepting LGBTQ Christians.

Faith does not live by answers alone
By Jonathan Merritt — November 14, 2023

Southern Baptists rid themselves of women pastors, their latest self-inflicted wound
By Jonathan Merritt — June 15, 2023
More from On Faith and Culture

Can evangelicalism survive its white, straight, conservative victory?
By Jonathan Merritt — May 2, 2023
(RNS) — A new history of evangelicalism recounts the damage of the movement’s repeated purges.

Southern governors sending migrants north face a crisis of faith
By Jonathan Merritt — September 16, 2022
(RNS) — It’s getting harder for a politician to adhere to Christian morals and get elected president.

John MacArthur and the dangers of biblical literalism
By Jonathan Merritt — July 19, 2022
(RNS) — Christians must accept that the only way to take the Bible seriously is to stop taking every word literally.

Southern Baptists’ abuse report is no call for reform. It’s a repudiation of the past 40 years.
By Jonathan Merritt — May 23, 2022
(RNS) — Scapegoating a handful of leaders won’t bring the transformation the SBC needs.

My own personal Jesus: Can he be trusted?
By Jonathan Merritt — June 24, 2021
(RNS) — In a new book, Diana Butler Bass says our understanding of Jesus needs to be informed by personal experience.

Albert Mohler’s darkest hour
By Jonathan Merritt — June 18, 2021
(RNS) — In his bid to lead America’s largest denomination, he was his own worst enemy.

Eugene Peterson authorized biography backs up that ‘yes’ on LGBTQ inclusion
By Jonathan Merritt — March 15, 2021
(RNS) — When Peterson died in 2018, many wondered what he actually thought about same-sex relationships.

Biden’s first 100 days: What’s not for evangelicals to like?
By Jonathan Merritt — January 25, 2021
(RNS) — Biden’s agenda for his first 100 days shares many concerns championed by white evangelicals.

Liberty University football team realizes Falwell’s winning vision, but at what cost?
By Jonathan Merritt — November 20, 2020
(RNS) — Liberty is one of three teams in the running for the NCAA's top tier playoffs.

It’s time to rescue the ‘pro-life’ label from anti-abortion activists
By Jonathan Merritt — November 2, 2020
(RNS) — The 'pro-life' term was once a moral call to arms, but it has become a mere political checkbox.

How will the post-pandemic church pay the bills?
By Jonathan Merritt — October 13, 2020
(RNS) — The pandemic may accelerate a long-term decline in congregational giving and force churches to develop new sources of revenue to survive.

Evangelicals perfected cancel culture. Now it’s coming for them.
By Jonathan Merritt — June 17, 2020
(RNS) — One Alabama megachurch preacher is experiencing a cautionary tale about a central spiritual idea: What goes around comes around.
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Jonathan Merritt
On Faith and Culture
Jonathan Merritt is a senior columnist and contributing editor for Religion News Service and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He has published more than 2500 articles in outlets like USA Today, The Week, Buzzfeed and National Journal. Jonathan is the author of "Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing - and How We Can Revive Them," "Jesus is Better Than You Imagined," and "A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars." He resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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