On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this issue of Plough
Quarterly explores the reformation the church needs today.
This year's five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation comes just
as Christianity is undergoing what may prove to be its biggest
recalibration since the fourth century. Christendom, the system in which
Christianity shaped Western laws and society as the majority religion,
has been shaky since the Enlightenment. Now it's in its death throes,
felled by secularization, consumerism, and the sexual revolution. For
better or worse, Christians must learn to be a minority. There's no
better time than now to recall Karl Barth's dictum: the church must
always be reformed. What is the re-formed church we need now?
In this issue, George Weigel and Eberhard Arnold call the church to
turn back to its sources and to seek renewal in the example of the first
Christians, for whom Christianity was not just a Sunday religion or a
private affair. It meant belonging to the fellowship of disciples, whose
way of life was countercultural to that of the surrounding pagan
society, as Rowan Williams points out. Today, Christians of all
traditions are realizing that we are again called, in the words of Rabbi
Lord Jonathan Sacks, to form a creative minority. Pastors Jin Kim and
Claudio Oliver explore how to practice communal Christianity in
different contexts, and Andreas Knapp and Cécile Massie document the
vibrancy of the persecuted church in Syria and Turkey. Editor Peter
Mommsen explores the legacy and triumph of the Radical Reformation.
Also in this issue:
- Reviews of Ben Sasse's The Vanishing American Adult, Alan Kreider's
The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, Tobias Jones's A Place of
Refuge, and Andrzej Franaszek's Milosz
- Poetry by Mary M. Brown
- Insights from early church leaders Ignatius, Hermas, and Polycarp
- An excerpt from Renegade, Plough's graphic novel on Martin Luther's
life
- Art and photography by Daniel Bonnell, Jason Landsel, Randall M.
Hasson, Rachel Wright, Arthur Brouthers, Andrea Grosso Ciponte, Olivia
Clifton-Bligh, Malcolm Coils, Cécile Massie, Jader Gneiting, and Dean
Mitchell
Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager
to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles,
interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message
into practice and find common cause with others.
