United Methodism’s General Conference started yesterday, April 23, in Charlotte, North Carolina. It will likely be the last important governing convention for United Methodism as the denomination, with the rest of American denominationalism, recedes into almost irrelevance. This General Conference will liberalize United Methodism’s teachings on marriage and sex, over which traditionalists and progressives have fought across fifty years. Between 2019 and 2023, over 7660 traditionalist churches, including up to 1.5 million members, exited the denomination under a temporary policy allowing depar ..read more

Over the past few years, the phrase “Christian Nationalism” has become all-but-ubiquitous in religion and politics. When employed by the political left, the phrase is often overused and applied without precision to politically conservative Christians in general. Those who self-identify as Christian nationalists, however, have more particular positions in view, usually involving state-established religion. As noted in the article linked above, many self-proclaimed Christian nationalists are within the Reformed tradition. There is intramural debate about who is truly Reformed and who is not, bu ..read more

We live in stressful times. For the first period in many decades a majority of Americans now report that they are more negative than positive about the future. We still deal with racism and systemic poverty. Many of us believe that the best way to fight poverty and homelessness is not with church resolutions or even government programs but with stable families. This argument is supported in a new book by Melissa S. Kearney in The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind (University of Chicago Press). Dr. Kearney offers studies that, among other th ..read more

In Defense of Christians at the Institute on Religion and Democracy organized a Capitol Hill congressional briefing on April 16th to call attention to the widespread violence against Christians in Nigeria. The panel, including religious freedom advocates and former U.S. government officials, discussed the Nigerian government’s responsibility for the religious persecution across the country and the need to re-designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for violations of international religious freedom as called for by House Resolution 82. Representatives John James (R-MI-10) and John ..read more

Here’s my chat with Joshua Mauldin of the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton, New Jersey about the new book he co-edited with Dallas Gingles and Rebekah Miles called The Future of Christian Realism: International Conflict, Political Decay, and the Crisis of Democracy. Audio podcast, with video below:   Mark Tooley: Hello! This is Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Here in Washington, DC. And also, editor of Providence, A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy with the pleasure today of chatting with Joshua Mauldin, who is Associate D ..read more

Roman Catholics should consider different classes of liberalism and how they affected the society and culture of today, according to two Catholic thought leaders seeking to engage with both secular pluralism and post-liberal movements including Integralism. Bishop Robert Barron sat down with Catholic philosopher D.C. Schindler on March 14 to mull over the goods of classical liberalism and those who, spurred on against exaggerated forms of liberalism, swing to an absolutist, contrary position. Among the ideas discussed was that the church proposes, rather than imposes, in public life. It is ne ..read more

Scholars of the Wesleyan movement presented at the first of the John Wesley Institute‘s regional events, the School of Methodism, February 9-10 in High Point, North Carolina. The two-day event explored our history as Wesleyans, what we believe, how we read scripture, what it means to live out our faith, and how our lives are shaped and formed by the worship of God. The School of Methodism is designed to equip participants in five areas: History, Theology, Scripture, Formation, and Worship. Speakers dove into the riches of the Wesleyan movement and engaged the question of what it means to ..read more

Distinguished New Testament scholar Richard Hays has co-authored a book apparently renouncing his earlier long-held traditionalist views on marriage and sex. A United Methodist and former dean of Duke Divinity School, in 1996 he authored the widely acclaimed A Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation, A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics. That book affirmed traditional Christian sexual ethics, confining sexual behavior to husband and wife. So, Hays’s reversal has excited comments by critics and new allies. The reversal is not surprising. Hays ..read more

Institute on Religion & Democracy Board Member Eric Patterson joined the IRD staff and guests on April 11 to speak on his new book, A Basic Guide to the Just War Tradition: Christian Foundations and Practices. This brief introduction surveys Christian thinking on an array of topics related to security and peace from a just war perspective. Drawing primarily on Scripture and theology, Patterson explores the moral dimensions of order, justice, and peace in light of key Christian doctrines such as love of neighbor, stewardship, vocation, and sphere sovereignty. He also examines the perennial ..read more

Scholars of the Wesleyan movement presented at the first of the John Wesley Institute‘s regional events, the School of Methodism, February 9-10 in High Point, North Carolina. The two-day event explored our history as Wesleyans, what we believe, how we read scripture, what it means to live out our faith, and how our lives are shaped and formed by the worship of God. The School of Methodism is designed to equip participants in five areas: History, Theology, Scripture, Formation, and Worship. Speakers dove into the riches of the Wesleyan movement and engaged the question of what it means to ..read more