We are arguably living in the most polarized time since the Civil War. And what’s more, the particular variety of polarization that presently plagues our society is an especially nasty one. Two kinds of polarization are spiking: negative polarization—“It’s not that I...
Month: January 2021
We, the People . . .
Mack McCarter
This was written four years ago, in January 2017, as part of Mack McCarter’s “weekly word” to the global community of those committed to renewing our relationships from the foundations on out. We thought it appropriate to re-post today, on this Inaugural week in the States.
The Sun Do Move
John Jasper
John Jasper, prominent slave preacher and founder of Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Richmond, gave this sermon in 1878. The dialect representations are part of the 1882 publication. This sermon was one of his landmark sermons. It is celebrated as one of the more powerful sermons in the early foundation of the Black Church in the American context.
Confronting Injustice
Russ Whitfield
In this sermon in the book of Amos, Russ preaches that it is never safe to ignore the work of justice, and that the American church has compromised its witness by doing so. He addresses the Hebrew word for “oppressed” and the accusations of “Marxism” it attracts, and admonishes us to respond to God’s prophetic word with self-abasement instead of self-defense. “The God who is Love is furious when the royal dignity of His image-bearers is disregarded and offended.” There is no greater wound you can inflict on a person who is suffering an injustice than to say that God has nothing to say about it.
Homily on Eutropius (I)
St. John Chrysostom
This homily was preached by St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople in 399 following the fall from grace of the Imperial consul-eunuch Eutropius who sought to eliminate the right of sanctuary. Fleeing a mob seeking his life, Eutropius ironically finds sanctuary in the cathedral. St. John Chrysostom preaches this rhetorically brilliant homily which stands as both a condemnation of hypocrisy and mobs. Ultimately, it is a call to render mercy and forgiveness.
Selections from Preface and Introduction to the Dordrecht Confession
Adriaan Conelisz
Leaders from two divided groups met 50 years after their conflict. They issued this preface and introduction, emphasizing the way in which public professions of faith and peacemaking go hand in hand: for the Anabaptists to credibly speak to its well-known peace witness, it must reconcile its own history.
Robert Peel’s Policing Principles
Sir Robert Peel
These principles, attributed to the founder of London’s first modern police, were sent out in the “General Instructions” issued to every new member of the Metropolitan Police Force from its formation in 1829 onward.
Forerunners: Sojourner Truth
Susannah Black, Jason Landsel
In 1844, in a field outside the town of Northampton, Massachusetts, a gang of young men showed up at a revival meeting, making trouble. The meeting’s organizers grew angry; the men – more than a hundred – redoubled their uproar. One of the meeting attendees, a...
Order and Justice
Susannah Black
These days it feels like we’re seeing political theology, good and bad, play out in front of our eyes: if we thought history was over and ideas didn’t have consequences, if we thought that all of this was abstract, we’re sure disabused of that notion now. Last Friday...
What Is Policing For, and How Do We Reform It?
Anthony Barr
To rebuild the public realm, we must reform the police; to do that, we should turn to the policing principles first set out in 1829 by Robert Peel: the “police” are just members of the public “who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”