Summer 2026
Volume 32, Number 3 · The current issue
Three articles, to read here or in print.
View this edition Download the PDF of Summer 2026 Read the articles
In this issue
Shepherds After God’s Heart
What is a pastor fundamentally called to be? Reading Ezekiel 34 alongside John 10 and 1 Peter 5, Raymond Hylton argues that the shepherd is first a revelation of God, and so a healthy and accountable model for ministry.
Presbyterian Identity?
Why does Presbyterian identity feel so vague and contested? Drawing on Charles Taylor’s “authenticity” and “the buffered self,” Joseph Small diagnoses the culture behind the disarray and points toward koinonia and shared theological work.
The Courage to Stand, Part 2: Bonhoeffer’s Journey and Ours
In the second part of his essay, Richard Burnett follows Bonhoeffer from London to Finkenwalde and on to his warnings about American Christianity, then asks what the visible church owes the world today.
Published since 1995 · 461 essays · 149 issues · Mailed to anyone who asks
Recent Dispatches
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The Courage to Stand, Part 1: Bonhoeffer’s Journey and OursRichard Burnett
Bonhoeffer was not always bold. In autumn 1933 he fled to London, weary and anxious, and Karl Barth answered with a sharp letter. Richard Burnett asks what that exchange teaches about finding courage to stand.
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Why does the word evangelism make so many mainline Christians anxious? Raymond Hylton turns to the Great Commission in Galilee, arguing that witness rests on Christ’s authority, not on our management of outcomes.
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The Good Deposit of the GospelDouglas G. Pratt
Reflecting on Paul’s final letter, Douglas Pratt traces the word “entrust” in 2 Timothy and asks whether the church is investing in the next generation of pastors and leaders to whom the gospel will be handed on.
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Why Study Theology?Jonathan Sundermeier
What is doctrine for? Seminarian Jonathan Sundermeier turns to Calvin’s Institutes to argue that theology’s highest end is piety: reverent love of God that is formed by knowing him and issues in joyful obedience.
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St. Christina the Astonishing tried to flee the stench of sinners; Isaiah collapsed in terror before the Holy One. Sara Jane Nixon argues that the content of God’s holiness is love, a holiness that draws near to sinners rather than away from them.
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Right belief or right worship? Doctrine or doxology? Drawing on Chesterton, Athanasius, and Calvin, Richard Burnett presents orthodoxy as a costly, moving equilibrium, never stuffy and never still, that has carried the church through every storm.
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PerseveranceDouglas F. Fletcher
Spiritual autobiographies remind us how the Spirit sustains faith through the long road. Drawing on Schweitzer, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Douglas F. Fletcher names ten weapons against evil and reflects on perseverance as a gift God himself secures.
Search the archive
461 articles from 148 issues, 1995 to 2026
From the archive
“All creation is intended to show the praise of God, for everything God has created finds its fulfillment in echoing the wonders of God’s character.”
This season, years ago
What the journal was printing at this time of year, ten, twenty and thirty years back.
Ten years ago Summer 2016
Does Theology Still Matter?Richard Burnett
Twenty years ago Issue 4, 2006
The Church MilitantSue Cyre
Thirty years ago Issue 4, 1996
Bible Study of the Gospel of Mark: Chapter 9Sue Cyre
From the Archive
149 issues, 1995 to 2026All editions
- Presbyterian Identity?
- The Courage to Stand, Part 2: Bonhoeffer’s Journey and Ours
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