Author Archives: Stephen

Some thoughts on expanding our moral imagination

I’ve written before about my admiration for the work of Reinhold Niebuhr, in, for example, the following posts: The tension between pedagogical caution and honesty Naïve idealism / bitter realism Never Safe against Temptation I was, then, as you might … Continue reading

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Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird

The first book I ever read about writing was Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I was in high school, just beginning to realize that writing was something I wanted my future self to do, … Continue reading

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Buechner’s Magic Kingdom

I finished reading Frederick Buechner’s The Eyes of the Heart: a memoir of the lost and found last week, after starting it two years ago. It didn’t take that long to read because of the length; it’s only 180 pages. … Continue reading

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“I write to change my own mind”

I came across an interview this week with Marilynne Robinson in The Paris Review in which she talks a good bit about her writing process, and the answers she gives are very close to the way I would answer those … Continue reading

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Is Your Faith Narcissistic?

(This is a part of my Why I Stopped Going To Church series. You can read part one here, part two here, part two point five here, and part three here.) Before I move on to the next part, I … Continue reading

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The Spiritual Strenuousness of Silence

Last weekend I joined some family members for a camping trip to Skull Island, a spot about thirty minutes outside of Chattanooga we used to go to at least once or twice a year for a good part of my … Continue reading

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Why I Stopped Going to Church, part 3

Read part one here, part two here and part two point five here. This essay cross-posted from Jesus Needs New PR “The greatest lie believed today,” my friend, and my pastor at the time, Tom, told those gathered that morning, … Continue reading

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The church and the problem of “simplistic call and response on complex issues”

Some of the thinking I’m doing around the blog series I am currently writing, Why I Stopped Going to Church, has to do with the larger question of what the church is, particularly in its local expression, and out of … Continue reading

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Why I Stopped Going to Church, part 2.5

Read part one here and part two here. This essay cross-posted from Jesus Needs New PR I am still working on part three of this series, so in the meantime, I thought I’d post a passage from Frederick Buechner’s sermon … Continue reading

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Scott Cairns on Salvation and Jesus as Personal Savior

I’ve loved the work of poet Scott Cairns ever since I first heard him at Calvin College’s 2008 Festival of Faith and Writing. Scott is now blogging for – of all places – Huffington Post, and in his piece earlier … Continue reading

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