2019 Books of the Year
Great books tell stories. Here’s our pick of vivid and insightful new releases for better understanding America, world events, history, science, and theology
Books are special
The written word is a uniquely powerful, and powerfully Christian, tool of communication
Master craftsmen
Some talented authors are showing that the stereotype of sugar-coated Christian fiction does not match reality
Theology for 3-year-olds
Theologians and others are turning out titles to present the gospel and church history to young, growing minds
A religion on the move
Riding the roller coaster of Christian history: WORLD's engaging and myth-busting Book of the Year
Voices
The Editors
Mailbag
'Righteous rebels?' June 2 I agree that the film For Greater Glory should "prompt Christians to consider how we would respond to similar persecution." But the reviewer's observation that "n...
Joel Belz
Vacation idea
Still haven't taken your summer vacation-and still haven't been able to decide what you'd do if you did take one? I've got a suggestion for you-but scheduling might seem to be a problem. I'...
Janie B. Cheaney
The Mormon challenge
"I'll never vote for the Mormon guy," said my friend back in 2008, when Mitt Romney was chasing John McCain in the Republican primaries. Her first concern was that an LDS candidate and possible pr...
Mindy Belz
Summer blockbuster
Mark Twain said, "Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't." If you tried to sell the truth of unfolding possibilities in Syria for a Hollywood script, even Jerry Bruckheimer migh...
Andrée Seu Peterson
A covering
I do not look good in hats and so I do not wear them. The exception is in church on Sundays where I don a mantilla "because of the angels" (1 Corinthians 11:10). So when David told me he had spott...
Marvin Olasky
Turned
Are evangelicals ready to join the crowd in recommending that unmarried individuals use contraceptives? Adelle Banks of the Religion News Service says yes in an article, "Evangelicals Say It's Tim...
Notebook
Sports
Thanking God
Christian athletes face a dilemma: Is talking about Jesus in public interviews a noble expression of faith or an obnoxious violation of privilege? The answer is not always simple. But of late, a n...
Money
Volatile summer
Stock market investors used to adhere strictly to the rule, "Sell in May and go away." That usually ensured a quiet summer, with relatively low volume and volatility. But in the first two weeks of...
Technology
Armchair evangelism
Skype, an internet-based phone service, breaks down barriers of distance by allowing anyone in the world to join an online conference call for free, using a computer and microphone-and missionary ...
Science
Rare breakthrough
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took a surprising turn in June when it decided not to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. Agency officials, including Interior Secretary Ke...
Religion
Changing tide
Membership numbers for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) reflect disturbing trends for the nation's largest Protestant denomination. Although the SBC saw slight increases in baptisms and the n...
Lifestyle
Alien by adoption
Kairi Abha Shepherd is officially a woman without a country. Unless her lawyers can work out a deal with the U.S. government, she may be deported from the only home she's ever known. Shephe...
Houses of God
St. Francisco de Asis Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba
St. Francisco de Asis Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba in Cardenas was founded in 1907. The present church was built in 1958 and after over a half century of communism has about 120 members. ...
Culture
Music
Three to remember
Given man's threescore years and 10, it was inevitable that rock 'n' roll-era musicians would eventually start dying in ever-increasing numbers. Still, for a year in which listeners have bid farew...
Movies & TV
Bunheads
First of all, what Bunheads isn't: a show about cafeteria hair-nets or bakers with bun fetishes. "Bunheads" are dancers in ABC Family's new Monday night comedy. They're ballerinas ... with buns .....
Movies & TV
The Newsroom
There's no question that Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter of such movies as A Few Good Men and The Social Network and creator of such television shows as The West Wing and the criminally under-appreciat...
Notable CDs
Notable CDs
That Rory Block goes way back with these gospel blues songs does not by itself qualify her to sing them. At 62, she's at her most appealing when appropriating a lower-register, Maria Muldaur-like ...
Movies & TV
Behind Brave
Katherine Sarafian has filled just about every job there is at Pixar Animation Studios, from production assistant on the first Toy Story film to production manager of Pixar's short film department...
Movies & TV
Box Office Top 10
Cautions: Quantity of sexual (S), violent (V), and foul-language (L) content on a 0-10 scale, with 10 high, from kids-in-mind.com Brave* (PG) S-2; V-4; L-1 Madagascar 3 (...
Q&A
The write way
Last Nov. 19 WORLD ran excerpts of an interview with Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, a wonderful book she wrote while homeschooling six children. She continues to live on an Ontario far...
Dispatches
News
Contempt
A House committee voted June 20 to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents related to a botched federal gunrunning operation that led to the d...
News
Health and taxes
WASHINGTON-Congressional cat fights, a "Cornhusker Kickback," a 2,700 page law, a Tea Party backlash, several circuit court rulings, and six hours of oral arguments later, the Supreme Court on Jun...
Human Race
Human Race
Paralyzed Steve Saint, son of slain missionary Nate Saint, suffered a paralyzing injury while testing new technology at Indigenous People's Technology and Education Ministry Center (I-Tec),...
Looking Ahead
Looking Ahead
Bastille Day Recently elected French President François Hollande on July 14 will preside over his first Bastille Day parade since taking office in May. The military parade down the Champs-E...
Quick Takes
Quick Takes
Testing the limits The return of permissive speed limits may be at hand in Texas, where the state's Department of Transportation says it's willing to test run an 85 mph speed limit on a new...
Quotables
Quotables
'They failed to recognize that the church is its people.' Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams on Roman Catholic church officials who covered up sexual abuse claims against priests ...
News
Strange bedfellows
The National Association of Evangelicals, founded in 1942, has as its motto, "Cooperation Without Compromise." More than 40 denominations-among them the Assemblies of God, Christian Reformed Churc...
News
Upheld and overturned
In one of the most highly anticipated Supreme Court rulings of the year, the court on June 25 struck down three of the four challenged provisions of the Arizona immigration law, known as S.B. 1070...
News
Band of Brothers
Fireworks exploded and cheers erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square when Egyptian officials announced on June 24 that a member of the Muslim Brotherhood had become the first freely elected civilian pre...
News
Greek drama
World stock markets breathed a sigh of relief on June 18, the day after elections that brought a victory to Greece's pro-bailout, pro-austerity parties. But the center-right New Democracy party on...
News
Photographic evidence
The Chinese blogosphere lit up with attacks on the country's one-child policy in June after a graphic photo of a 27-year-old Feng Jaimei lying next to her dead 7-month-old fetus went viral. ...