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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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July 27, 2023

The Undertow by Jeff Sharlet

July 27, 2023/ Lukas Killgore
The Undertow by Jeff Sharlet

A reporter’s dispatches from the front line of the culture wars.

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July 27, 2023/ Lukas Killgore/
Politics & Economics, Society & Culture, Religion
The Undertow, slow civil war, Jeff Sharlet, Trump, American culture, Lukas Killgore, 2023
July 12, 2023

The Nones by Ryan Burge

July 12, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
The Nones by Ryan Burge

A look at the growing segment of society that has no use for organized religion.

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July 12, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion, Society & Culture
The Nones, Ryan Burge, religion, atheism, Steve Donoghue, 2023, culture
April 18, 2023

Christendom by Peter Heather

April 18, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Christendom by Peter Heather

A sweeping history of how Christianity conquered the world.

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April 18, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Peter Heather, Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, Christianity, Christian history, religious history, Steve Donoghue, 2023
March 28, 2023

Body of Proof by Jeremiah Johnston

March 28, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
Body of Proof by Jeremiah Johnston

A slim new book that attempts to lay out proofs for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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March 28, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Body of Proof: The 7 Best Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, Jeremiah Johnston, Christianity, Christian apologetics, Steve Donoghue, 2023
January 09, 2023

The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner

January 09, 2023/ Steve Donoghue
The Wandering Mind by Jamie Kreiner

An intriguing new look at the ways medieval monks managed their screen time.

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January 09, 2023/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion, History
Religion, Jamie Kreiner, Steve Donoghue, History, 2023
October 17, 2022

To Sanctify the World by George Weigel

October 17, 2022/ Steve Donoghue
To Sanctify the World by George Weigel

A new history of the roots, events, and impacts of the Second Vatican Council.

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October 17, 2022/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
George Weigel, To Sanctify the World, Vatican II, Catholic history, Catholic Church, Steve Donoghue
June 23, 2022

The Psalms by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

June 23, 2022/ Steve Donoghue
The Psalms by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A beautiful little reprint of the English-language translation of Bonhoeffer’s book on the Psalms.

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June 23, 2022/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Psalms, The Prayer Book of the Bible, Christiantiy, Psalter, Religion, Steve Donoghue
May 31, 2022

Refugia Faith by Debra Rienstra

May 31, 2022/ Steve Donoghue
Refugia Faith by Debra Rienstra

A call for Christians to take on the work of saving the world.

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May 31, 2022/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Refugia Faith, Debra Rienstra, Christianity, climate change, environmental science, Religion
February 25, 2022

Trace & Aura by Patrick Boucheron

February 25, 2022/ Steve Donoghue
Trace & Aura by Patrick Boucheron

Newly translated: a wide-ranging study of St. Ambrose.

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February 25, 2022/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Trace & Aura: The Recurring Afterlives of St. Ambrose of Milan, Patrick Boucheron, St. Ambrose, Christianity, Steve Donoghue, Religion
November 28, 2021

Benedict XVI (Volume II) by Peter Seewald

November 28, 2021/ Steve Donoghue
Benedict XVI (Volume II) by Peter Seewald

Peter Seewald’s magnificent two-volume life of Pope Benedict concludes.

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November 28, 2021/ Steve Donoghue/
Biography/Memoir, History, Religion
Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, Peter Seewald, Papal history, Roman Catholic Church, Steve Donoghue
September 08, 2021

Cross Examined by John W. Campbell

September 08, 2021/ Steve Donoghue
Cross Examined by John W. Campbell

Everything you’ve always wondered about Christianity but were for 1800 years forbidden on pain of death to ask.

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September 08, 2021/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Cross Examined, Christianity, John W. Campbell, religion, Steve Donoghue
February 01, 2021

A Most Peculiar Book by Kristin Swenson

February 01, 2021/ Steve Donoghue
A Most Peculiar Book by Kristin Swenson

A readable guide to the many contradictions, errors, and oddities of the Bible.

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February 01, 2021/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
A Most Peculiar Book, Kristin Swenson, the Bible, Bible studies, Steve Donoghue, Religion
May 30, 2020

Tornado God by Peter Thuesen

May 30, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Tornado God by Peter Thuesen

A new book looks at how American religions deal with devastating “acts of God”.

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May 30, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Animals & Nature, Religion
Peter Thuesen, weather, American history, American evangelicals, tornadoes
April 05, 2020

Muhammad and the Empires of Faith by Sean Anthony

April 05, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
Muhammad and the Empires of Faith by Sean Anthony

An innovative inquiry into how we know what we know about the birth of Islam.

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April 05, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion, History
Sean W. Anthony, Steve Donoghue, Islam, History, Religion, University of California Press
February 08, 2020

High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America

February 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue
High on God: How Megachurches Won the Heart of America

Megachurches in America are enormously popular and steadily growing - a new book looks at what they are and how they work.

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February 08, 2020/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
megachurches, james wellman, katie corcoran, kate stockly, Oxford University Press
November 01, 2019

Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

November 01, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland

Holland traces the insatiable growth and development of Christianity through all its major stages and locations.

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November 01, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Religion
Tom Holland, Basic Books, Christianity, world history, Steve Donoghue, History
August 15, 2019

The Twentysomething Soul by Tim Clydesdale & Kathleen Garces-Foley

August 15, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Twentysomething Soul by Tim Clydesdale & Kathleen Garces-Foley

A very readable guide surveying the inner faith-lives of a generation most Americans find baffling at best.

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August 15, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Religion
Tim Clydesdale, Kathleen Garces-Foley, Oxford University Press, religion, society, Christianity, millenials, Steve Donoghue
April 05, 2019

The Damascus Road by Jay Parini

April 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue
The Damascus Road by Jay Parini

A squarely straight-laced affair, a prosier elaboration of the Epistles, an Act Two of the Apostles.

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April 05, 2019/ Steve Donoghue/
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Religion
Jay Parini, Doubleday, historical fiction, religious fiction, literary fiction, Steve Donoghue
July 26, 2018

The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

July 26, 2018/ Michael Lindgren
The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon

This novel explores potent themes — the nature of Christian faith and its potential for misuse and even harm.

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July 26, 2018/ Michael Lindgren/
Literary Fiction, Religion
R.O. Kwon, Riverhead Books, Michael Lindgren
July 10, 2018

Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History by Brian Stanley

July 10, 2018/ Steve Donoghue
Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History by Brian Stanley

Stanley's arguments are based on wide-ranging research, and his prose is clear.

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July 10, 2018/ Steve Donoghue/
History, Religion
Brian Stanley, Paul Johnson, Dairmand MacCulloch, Christianity, religion, Princeton University Press, Steve Donoghue
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