Newsweek

Beliefwatch: On Purpose

Time was, not so long ago, that no one ever said a bad word about Pastor Rick Warren. He was the genius grower of churches, the California whiz who found a magic formula for marketing Christianity to the masses, who hit the jackpot with his book “The Purpose Driven Life,” by some accounts the best-selling nonfiction book ever. The newsweeklies […]

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Tradition of Suffering

During the third century, in Egypt and throughout the Middle East, men and women fled the cities into the desert, following the example of St. Anthony. They wore simple clothes, ate simple food. They turned their backs on the temptations of urban life, on commerce and innovation

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An Awkward Outing

In the days leading up to the High Holidays, the holiest time of the year in Judaism, a senator running for re-election and a potential Republican candidate for president, announced that, yes, his mother was born Jewish. Here’s what Sen. George Allen said: “I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family

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Public Life: ‘St. Jack’ Examines His Conscience–And Party

Jack Danforth once stood at the intersection of religion and politics. He was a moderate Re-publican, three-term senator, diplomat. He is also an Episcopal priest, so pious that his Senate colleagues called him “St. Jack.” With his new book “Faith and Politics,” in stores next week, Danforth–now 70 and retired–positions himself as an outsider. He takes his own beloved party

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A Man and His Myths

In 1949, the year he finished writing “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” C. S. Lewis was leading at least four different lives. His reputation as a Christian apologist had already been launched with several books and a series of BBC radio speeches. He was a charismatic Oxford professor, an expert in Milton and Spenser. He was a generous

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Getting Fit With Harry And Chris

What can you say about a 70-year-old guy who can kick your butt in spin class? Outdoors, it’s below freezing, and, though technically morning, still dark as night. But there he is, bouncing along on his stationary bike like a jack rabbit and grinning happily at his heart-rate monitor, while I, nearly 30 years younger, manage to keep up only

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The New Infidelity

When groups of married mothers get together, especially if there’s alcohol involved, the conversation is usually the same. They talk about the kids and work–how stressed they are, how busy and bone tired. They gripe about their husbands and, if they’re being perfectly honest and the wine kicks in, they talk about the disappointments in their marriages. Not long ago,

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The Secret Lives of Wives

WHY THEY STRAY: WITH THE WORK PLACE AND THE INTERNET, OVERSCHEDULED LIVES AND INATTENTIVE HUSBANDS–IT’S NO WONDER MORE AMERICAN WOMEN ARE LOOKING FOR COMFORT IN THE ARMS OF ANOTHER MAN When groups of women get together, especially if they’re mothers and have been married for more than six or seven years, and especially if there’s alcohol involved, the conversation is

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Why We Need Heaven

In Troubled Times, The Afterlife Beckons With Visions Of Dark-Eyed Virgins, Gardens And Palaces, The Bliss Of God’s Eternal Presence And The Joy Of Uniting With Loved Ones. How Can The Promise Of Paradise Inspire So Many To Goodness, And Few To Murder? Hagar Zar is sure her husband, Gilad, is in heaven. Perhaps that’s why she looks so serene

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