Yesterday we celebrated a ridiculous claim: that a dead man came back to life. Not that he was resuscitated. But that he was made alive again, eternally. That he, Jesus, is still alive. The truth of Christianity hinges upon the reality of the resurrection. There are Christians ...

Fifty years ago, a TIME cover article asked the question, "Is God Dead?" This week, a cover article of the same magazine asks, "Is Hell Dead?" This recent article comes in response to Rob Bell's book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever ...

I have a new post on her.meneutics. It begins:

I don't know how to explain Easter to my children — Penny, 5, and William, 2. I've tried two approaches so far. I've talked about it directly: "Some people killed Jesus and he died and God made him alive again."

When I said that, ...

As the parent of a child with special needs, I write of faith communities from a slightly different perspective than most. Faith communities can be large or small, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other, filled with people young or old, but they are, I think, in a special category.  ...

Again,

It's a symbol of love, of forgiveness, of salvation.

It's a vision of violence, of blood, of death.

It's a trinket dangling from a rear-view mirror, an ornament to dress up an outfit.

It's a centerpiece in a house of worship.

It's a gift. It's an offense.

It's a reminder, in ...

Along with other bloggers, I was recently asked to respond to this question in 100 words or less. Here's what I wrote:

My husband threw a handful of crackers across the room. He was angry.

My daughter threw her arms out wide and said, "Tada!" She was proud.

My son's tears rolled ...

I've been working for years now on a memoir about the first few years of Penny's life, and I'm excited to announce that it will be available in just a few months. For more information, visit my page at Baker Books. In a few weeks, I will direct you to a page on my website with ...