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When Mildred goes off to a big party where little brothers are not invited, Harvey finds a secret club in a secret place where big sisters are not allowed to be members. But when Harvey's lonesomeness overpowers his stubbornness, he discovers that a secret club with two members is much better. Full color.

One of the most articulate and biblically grounded voices of the Radical Reformation, Peter Riedemann was only twenty-three when he penned this impassioned confession of faith in the gloom of a sixteenth-century Austrian dungeon. Already a noted Anabaptist leader, Riedemann called fellow persecuted Christians to witness to a love that, "e;when it really burns, having kindled our eagerness for God, the more temptations and tribulations meet it, the more it flares, until it overcomes and consumes all injustice and wickedness."e;A classic testament to religious liberty with a timely message for modern believers, Love Is Like Fire serves as a striking reminder of the spirit that fired the hearts of early "e;heretics"e; during the Reformation. A first translation into English, this book is an important addition to the small but growing number of primary sources on early Anabaptism.

When we read the book of nature, what do we read there? ¿All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all,¿ says a well-known hymn. This issue of Plough celebrates the creatures of our planet ¿ plant, animal, and human ¿ and the implications of humankind¿s relationship to nature.But if nature can be read as a book that reveals the wisdom of its Creator, it also reveals things less lovely than stars and singing birds ¿ a world of desperate competition for survival, mass extinctions, and deadly viruses. Is such a world a convincing argument for the Creator¿s goodness? Turns out Christians and skeptics alike have been asking such questions since long before Darwin added a twist.Are we moderns out of practice at reading the book of nature? And if we forget how, will we fail to read human nature as well ¿ what rights or purposes our Creator may have endowed us with? What then is there to limit the bounds of technological manipulation of humankind?This issue of Plough explores these and other fascinating questions about the natural world and our place in it.In this issue:- Sussex farmer Adam Nicholson evokes centuries of handwork that shaped the landscape of the Weald.- Gracy Olmstead revisits the land her forebears farmed in Idaho.- Ian Marcus Corbin tries walking phoneless to better note the beauty of the natural world.- Amish farmer John Kempf, a leader in regenerative agriculture, foresees a healthier future for farming.- Leah Libresco Sargeant offers a feminist critique of society¿s war on women¿s bodies.- Iván Bernal Marín visits Panama City¿s traditional fishermen.- Maureen Swinger recalls to triumphs of second grade in forest school.- Edmund Waldstein questions head transplants and the limits of medical science.- Kelsey Osgood says it¿s natural to fear death, and to transcend that fear through faith.- Tim Maendel lifts the veil on urban beekeeping along the Manhattan skyline.You¿ll also find:- An essay by Christian Wiman on the poetry of doubt and faith- New poems by Alfred Nicol- A profile of Amazon activist nun Dorothy Stang- An appreciation of Keith Green¿s songs- Insights on creation from Blaise Pascal, Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assisi, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Christopher Smart, Augustine of Hippo, The Book of Job, and Sadhu Sundar Singh- Reviews of The Opening of the American Mind, and Kazuo Ishigurös Klara and the SunPlough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

How did violence become OK? And is there any way back?At some point between George Floyd¿s killing on May 25 and the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6, Americäs consensus against political violence crumbled. Before 2020, almost everyone agreed that it should be out of bounds. Now, many are ready to justify such violence ¿ at least when it is their side breaking windows or battling police officers. Something significant seems to have slipped. Is there any way back?As Christians, we need to consider what guilt we bear, with the rise of a decidedly unchristian ¿Christian nationalism¿ that historically has deep roots in American Christian culture. But shouldn¿t we also be asking ourselves what a truly Christian stance might look like, one that reflects Jesus¿ blessings on the peacemakers, the merciful, and the meek?Oscar Romero, when accused of preaching revolutionary violence, responded: ¿We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross.¿ If we take Jesus¿ example and his call to nonviolence at face value, we¿re left with all kinds of interesting questions: What about policing? What about the military? What about participating in government? This issue of Plough addresses some of these questions and explores what a life lived according to love rather than violence might look like.In this issue:- Anthony M. Barr revisits James Baldwin¿s advice about undoing racism.- Gracy Olmstead describes welcoming the baby she did not expect during a pandemic.- Patrick Tomassi debates nonviolence with Portland¿s anarchists and Proud Boys.- Scott Beauchamp advises on what not to ask war veterans.- Rachel Pieh Jones reveals what Muslims have taught her about prayer.- Eberhard Arnold argues that Christian nonviolence is more than pacifism.- Stanley Hauerwas presents a vision of church you¿ve never seen in practice.- Andrea Grosso Ciponte graphically portrays the White Rose student resistance to Nazism.- Zito Madu illuminates rap¿s role in escaping the violence of poverty.- Springs Toledo recounts his boxing match with an undefeated professional.You¿ll also find:- An interview with poet Rhina P. Espaillat- New poems by Catherine Tufariello- Profiles of Anabaptist leader Felix Manz and community founder Lore Weber- Reviews of Marly Youmans¿s Charis in the World of Wonders, Judith D. Schwartz¿s The Reindeer Chronicles, Chris Lombardi¿s I Ain¿t Marching Anymore, and Martín Espadäs FloatersPlough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

What is a family and what is it good for?Story 1: Families are in crisis, and the cause is moral breakdown. We urgently need a deep renewal of our family culture, supported by public policies that strengthen traditional marriage and encourage childbearing.Story 2: Families are in crisis, and the cause is capitalism. We need structural changes in society so that all families can flourish: parental leave, guaranteed healthcare, flexible work hours for parents, restorative justice.What if both these stories are true? This issue of Plough reflects on what a family is and what it is for, so that the transformations needed to solve the crisis of the family start from a firm basis, not a nostalgic ideal or progressive theorizing. As always, we take as a starting point the teachings of Jesus. It turns out his idea of family values might not be what people think. He calls us to extend our natural love for our biological family to a vast new throng of siblings - a family of many ethnicities and cultures that includes the widowed, the unmarried, the outsider, and the stranger. In this issue: - Ross Douthat asks what is stopping people from having the one more child they desire.- Edwidge Danticat says families are not nuclear.- Gina Dalfonzo reveals what singles know best about the church as family.- Norann Voll remembers a Jewish woman who escaped the Holocaust and married a German.- W. Bradford Wilcox and Alysse ElHage report on how the Covid pandemic has impacted the family.- Noah Van Niel asks whether masculinity is OK anymore.- Cardinal Christoph Schönborn reflects the burden of family history, celibacy, and monument toppling.- Sarah C. Williams pinpoints the source of feminist pioneer Josephine Butler's daring.- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks begins the story of marriage 385 million years ago in a lake in Scotland.- Zito Madu recalls how his father's amazing storytelling saved the past from oblivion.You'll also find:- M. M. Townsend on what Louisa May Alcott and Simone de Beauvoir had in common- A special announcement about Plough's new poetry contest: the Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award- A reading from G. K. Chesterton- Two new poems by Rachel Hadas- Reviews of Eric Edstrom's Un-American, Maya Schenwar and Victoria Law's Prison by Any Other Name, Brian Doyle's One Long River of Song, and Martín Caparrós's HungerPlough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message into practice and find common cause with others.

A veces sensible, a veces provocativo, pero siempre alentador, Arnold guía a los lectores a llevar una vida a semejanza de Cristo, en medio de las presiones y tensiones de la vida moderna. Tal vez lo más difícil de seguir a Cristo es convertir nuestras buenas intenciones en hechos. Cristo nos llama y anhelamos responder a su llamado, pero una y otra vez fallamos en nuestra determinación. ¿Es posible el discipulado hoy?Muchas selecciones en este libro ofrecen respuestas a necesidades o problemas específicos. Otras abordan temas más amplios como el sufrimiento en el mundo, la salvación y la venida del reino de Dios. Pero todas están llenas de convicción y compasión, dando nueva esperanza a los que se encuentran solos o desanimados en la búsqueda diaria de seguir a Cristo.

In Why Forgive? Arnold lets the untidy experiences of ordinary people speak for themselves--people who have earned the right to talk about forgiving.Some of these stories deal with violent crime, betrayal, abuse, hate, gang warfare, and genocide. Others address everyday hurts: the wounds caused by backbiting, gossip, conflicts in the home, and tensions in the workplace. The book also tackles what can be the biggest challenge: forgiving ourselves.These people, who have overcome the cancer of bitterness and hatred, can help you unleash the healing power of forgiveness in your own life.Why Forgive? these stories and decide for yourself.

We need a vision of how medicine might serve the good of the whole human person: the body's health, but also the health of that "piece of divinity in us."Medicine, so long as you don't need it, is a tangential part of life, just one more profession among others. Until that is, a loved one suffers an accident or falls sick. Then, suddenly, medicine is quite literally, a matter of life or death. Medicine is also big business. Doctors have been reclassified as "service providers," and patients are "clients." Such commercialism breeds false incentives and inequalities, even in nations.We need a vision of how medicine might serve the good of the whole human person: the body's health, but also the health of that "piece of divinity in us." We need love and reverence for humans as they are, not humans as technology may someday engineer them to be. Jesus, the healer from Nazareth, showed what it means to love the imperfect, the frail, the average. The glory of the medical profession is that it is dedicated to these works of mercy. In today's money-driven healthcare industry, such tasks are often poorly rewarded. Yet they're at the heart of medicine's original mission.Also in this issue: original poetry by Suzanne Harlan Heyd; reviews of new books by Barbara Ehrenreich, Ryan T. Anderson, Beth Macy, and David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé; and art by Tim Lowly, Michelangelo, Julian Peters, Wanjin Gim, Scott Goldsmith, Jan Mostaert, Suleiman Mansour, Cécile Massie, Peter Doig, Erin Hanson, and Jason Landsel.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus' message into practice and find common cause with others.

How did earliest Christians receive and understand the teaching of Jesus and the apostles? These writings, among the earliest used in training new disciples, show a clear, vibrant, practical faith concerned with all aspects of discipleship in daily life¿vocation, morality, family life, social justice, the sacraments, prophesy, citizenship, and leadership.For the most part, these writings have remained buried in academia, analyzed by scholars but seldom used for building up the church community. Now, at a time when Christians of every persuasion are seeking clarity by returning to the roots of their faith, these simple, direct teachings shed light on what it means to be a follower of Christ in any time or place.The Didache, an anonymous work composed in the late first century AD, was lost for centuries before being rediscovered in 1873. The Shepherd was written by a former slave named Hermas in the second century AD or possibly even earlier.

With the concept of socialism back in mainstream conversations and increasing numbers of Christians unhappy with ¿Sunday Christianity,¿ it¿s time to give the lifestyle of Jesus¿ first followers another look. This issue of Plough Quarterly does just that, profiling intentional Christian communities past and present and gleaning wisdom on the daily practicalities and pitfalls of communal living from those with years of experience in following Jesus together.Hear from Stanley Hauerwas, Rick Warren, Leonardo Boff, Chiara Lubich, C. S. Lewis, Jean Vanier, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Eberhard Arnold, and D. L. Mayfield. Then there¿s new poetry, book reviews, a children¿s story by Kwon Jong-saeng, and world-class art by Salvador Dali, Wassily Kandinsky, Juan Rizi, Marianne Stokes, Francisco de Zurbarán, Dong-Sung Kim, Christian Schussele, Gustave Caillebotte.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

The summer of 2020 has shown us how much we all depend on one another. Whatever else they do, pandemics show us we are not alone. Covid-19 is proof that, yes, there is such a thing as society; the disease has spread precisely because we aren¿t autonomous individuals disconnected from each other, but rather all belong to one great body of humanity. The pain inflicted by the pandemic is far from equally distributed. Yet it reveals ever more clearly how much we all depend on one another, and how urgently necessary it is for us to bear one another¿s burdens.It¿s a good time, then, to talk about solidarity. The more so because it¿s a theme that¿s also raised by this year¿s other major development, the international protests for racial justice following George Floyd¿s death. The protests, too, raised the question of solidarity in guilt, even guilt across generations. By taking up our common guilt with all humanity, we come into solidarity with the one who bears it and redeems it all. In Christ, sins are forgiven, guilt abolished, and a new way of living together becomes possible. This solidarity in forgiveness gives rise to a life of love.This issue of Plough explores what solidarity means, and what it looks like to live it out today, whether in Uganda, Bolivia, or South Korea, in an urban church, a Bruderhof, or a convent.

The gospel teaches that every human is sacred. Refugee children and Islamist terrorists. Police officers and young African Americans. Unborn babies, always, and also abortionists. Orange-haired casino owners, former First Ladies, progressive hipsters, prosperity-gospel televangelists, members of Congress, Confederate-flag-waving white nationalists? Sacred. This absurd claim is at the heart of the gospel. Each person is created in the image and likeness of God. Each is someone for whom Jesus died. And if this is true, we have much work to do. The writers in this issue may not agree on the best ways and means, but each challenges us to consider the implications of this gospel of life that makes no exceptions.Also in this issue:-- A former asylum seeker returns to Iraq to stand with Christians on the run from ISIS.-- Shane Claiborne tells us why abolishing the death penalty is the church¿s business.-- Joel Salatin, Americäs most famous farmer, reveals what pigs can teach us about the glory of God.-- John Dear reports on the Vatican¿s historic turn toward nonviolence.-- Erna Albertz tells Richard Dawkins how her sister with Down syndrome can help him.-- Gun owners respond to gun violence with a fresh take on ¿swords into plowshares.¿-- Ron Sider looks at the consistently pro-life witness of the early church.-- A hospice nurse reflects on euthanasia and the value of being a burden.-- Jason Landsel asks what made MohammadMuhammad Ali great.Then there¿s new poetry, book reviews, a children¿s story, insights from Pope Francis and George MacDonald, and art by Pawel Kuczynski, Xenia Hausner, William H. Johnson, Käthe Kollwitz, and Deidre Scherer.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

No pierdas el ánimo ¿¡puedes salvarlo! Nos lo asegura el autor de este libro, padre de ocho hijos y numerosos nietos. Los consejos de Arnold son prácticos antes que teóricos. Aborda temas educativos de actualidad, a saber, el uso de drogas como el Ritalín®, las pruebas estandarizadas, los niños «difíciles», el espíritu competitivo y la importancia del juego infantil.Este libro es para ti, madre, padre o maestro, y todos ­aquellos preocupados por la suerte de los niños. No quiere abrumarte con nuevos consejos sino orientarte de acuerdo con tu sabiduría innata.

The gospel teaches that every human is sacred. Refugee children and Islamist terrorists. Police officers and young African Americans. Unborn babies, always, and also abortionists. Orange-haired casino owners, former First Ladies, progressive hipsters, prosperity-gospel televangelists, members of Congress, Confederate-flag-waving white nationalists? Sacred. This absurd claim is at the heart of the gospel. Each person is created in the image and likeness of God. Each is someone for whom Jesus died. And if this is true, we have much work to do. The writers in this issue may not agree on the best ways and means, but each challenges us to consider the implications of this gospel of life that makes no exceptions.Also in this issue:-- A former asylum seeker returns to Iraq to stand with Christians on the run from ISIS.-- Shane Claiborne tells us why abolishing the death penalty is the church¿s business.-- Joel Salatin, Americäs most famous farmer, reveals what pigs can teach us about the glory of God.-- John Dear reports on the Vatican¿s historic turn toward nonviolence.-- Erna Albertz tells Richard Dawkins how her sister with Down syndrome can help him.-- Gun owners respond to gun violence with a fresh take on ¿swords into plowshares.¿-- Ron Sider looks at the consistently pro-life witness of the early church.-- A hospice nurse reflects on euthanasia and the value of being a burden.-- Jason Landsel asks what made MohammadMuhammad Ali great.Then there¿s new poetry, book reviews, a children¿s story, insights from Pope Francis and George MacDonald, and art by Pawel Kuczynski, Xenia Hausner, William H. Johnson, Käthe Kollwitz, and Deidre Scherer.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

Twenty of the best Christmas stories of all time are collected in one handsomely illustrated anthology. Selected for their literary quality and spiritual integrity, these time-honored favorites will resonate with readers year after year.

How close do we dare to get to Jesus¿ Sermon on the Mount? It¿s widely considered the key to understanding who Jesus was and what mission he strove to fulfill. For two millennia, countless people have wrestled to apply it, from Augustine to Luther to Tolstoy to Gandhi. Alongside much wisdom, there has been much evasion, prompting Jewish theologian Pinchas Lapide¿s tart comment: ¿The history of the impact of the Sermon on the Mount can largely be described in terms of an attempt to domesticate everything in it that is shocking, demanding, and uncompromising, and render it harmless.¿ There¿s good reason for this: Jesus¿ teaching is deeply disruptive. It demands a top-to-bottom reordering of life, work, and social relations,¿starting with radical economic sharing, nonresistance and love of enemies, lifelong marriage, and unconditional forgiveness.This issue of Plough Quarterly focuses on people willing to get their hands dirty living out the Sermon on the Mount. Their ranks include Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, John Wesley, Henri Nouwen, Mother Teresa, and others yoüll meet in these pages. Their insights are not to be consumed passively. Rather, they should inspire and equip each of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work.Bold, hope-filled, and down-to-earth, Plough Quarterly features thought-provoking articles, commentary, interviews, short fiction, book reviews, poetry and artwork to inspire everyday faith and action. Each issue brings together essential voices from many traditions to give you fresh insights on a core theme such as peacemaking, biblical justice, children and family, building community, man and woman, nature and the environment, nonviolence, or simple living. Starting from the conviction that the teachings and example of Jesus can transform and renew our world, it aims to apply them to all aspects of life, seeking common ground with all people of goodwill regardless of creed.

This theologian¿s most significant work, now being released in five smaller books.A Plough classic reissued to celebrate the centennial of our publishing house¿s founding by Eberhard Arnold in 1920.Part of a beautifully designed series of ten titles by this author, including reissues and new titles.Eberhard Arnold interacts with contemporaries such as Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Niemöller, Martin Buber, Paul Tillich, and Jürgen Moltmann.

The diverse contributors to this issue of Plough Quarterly focus on what it means to be a peacemaker. Peacemaking, they show, is a riskier and more ambitious undertaking than we may have imagined. Today we must wage peace where thousands of children are being murdered by militias or forced to fight as soldiers. We need peacemakers in divided cities from Paris to Baltimore, peacemakers in a culture with little tolerance for Christian witness, and peacemakers in churches riven by ideological fights and petty grudges, not to mention making peace with our spouses, and with ourselves. Hear from active peacemakers on the frontlines of these battles and explore insights on peacemaking from Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Badshah Khan, Jeannette Rankin, Charles Spurgeon, André Trocmé, Peace Pilgrim, Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Eberhard Arnold. And as always, Plough Quarterly includes world-class art by the likes of Marc Chagall, Egon Schiele, Lisa Toth, Carl Larsson, Ben Shahn, Mikalojus Konstantinas ¿iurlionis, Paul Klee, Antonello da Messina, and others.Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-depth articles, interviews, fiction, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus¿ message into practice and find common cause with others.

Canwe move beyond borders that divide us without losing our identity? Overthe past decade, theyearning for rootedness, for being part of a story bigger than oneself, hasflared up as a cultural force to be reckoned with. There’s much to affirm in thisdesire to belong to a people. That means pride in all that is admirable in thenation to which we belong – and repentance for its historic sins. Afocus on national identity, ofcourse, can lead to darker places. The new nationalists, who in Westerncountries often appeal to the memory of a Christian past, applaud whengovernments fortify borders to keep out people who are fleeing for their lives.(Needless to say, such actions are contrary to the Christian faith.) Is ouryearning for roots doomed to lead to a heartless politics of exclusion? Doesmaintaining group or national identity require borders guarded with lethalviolence?  Theanswer isn’t artificial schemes for universal brotherhood, such as a universal language. Our differencesare what make a community human. Might the true ground for community lie deepereven than shared nationality or language? After all, the biblical vision ofhumankind’s ultimate future has “every tribe and language and people andnation” coming together – beyond all borders but still as themselves. In this issue: - Santiago Ramosdescribes a double homelessness immigrant children experience as outsiders inboth countries.- Ashley Lucasprofiles a Black Panther imprisoned for life and looks at the impact on hisfamily.- Simeon Wiehlerhelps a museum repatriate a thousand human skulls collected by a colonialist.- Yaniv Sageecalls Zionism back to its founding vision of a shared society withPalestinians.- StephanieSaldaña finds the lost legendary chocolates of Damascus being crafted in Texas.- EdwidgeDanticat says storytelling builds a home that no physical separation can takeaway.- Phographer RiverClaure reimagines Saint-Exupéry’s LePetit Prince as an Aymara fairy tale.- Ann Thomas tellsof liminal experiences while helping families choose a cemetery plot.- Russell Moorechallenges the church to reclaim its integrity and staunch an exodus. You’ll also find: - Prize-winning poemsby Mhairi Owens, Susan de Sola, and Forester McClatchey- A profile of Japanesepeacemaker Toyohiko Kagawa- Reviews ofFredrik deBoer’s The Cult of Smart,Anna Neima’s The Utopians, and AmorTowles’s The Lincoln Highway- Insights onfollowing Jesus from E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila,Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Leonardo Boff, MeisterEckhart, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Plough Quarterly features stories,ideas, and culturefor people eager to put their faith into action. Each issue brings you in-deptharticles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art to help you put Jesus’message into practice and find common cause with others.

“Clarence Jordan spoke with an unwavering prophetic voice. He firmly rejected materialism, militarism, and racism as obstacles to authentic faith… He was a fearless and innovative defender of human rights.” —President Jimmy CarterOn 440 depleted acres in Sumter County, Georgia, a young Baptist preacher and farmer named Clarence Jordan gathered a few families and set out to show that Jesus intended more than spiritual fellowship. Like the first Christians, they would share their land, money, and possessions. Working together to rejuvenate the soil and the local economy, they would demonstrate racial and social justice with their lives.Black and white community members eating together at the same table scandalized local Christians, drew the ire of the KKK, and led to drive-by shootings, a firebombing, and an economic boycott.This bold experiment in nonviolence, economic justice, and sustainable agriculture was deeply rooted in Clarence Jordan’s understanding of the person and teachings of Jesus, which stood in stark contrast to the hypocrisy of churches that blessed wars, justified wealth disparity, and enforced racial segregation. “You can’t put Christianity into practice,” Jordan wrote, “You can’t make it work. As desperately as it is needed in this poor, broken world, it is not a philosophy of life to be ‘tried.’ Nor is it a social or ethical ideal which has tantalized humankind with the possibility of attainment. For Christianity is not a system you work – it is a Person who works you.”This selection from his talks and writings introduces Clarence Jordan’s radically biblical vision to a new generation of peacemakers, community builders, and activists.

No matter who wins the next election, Caesar will remain Caesar, doing some good and some bad. But Christians report to a different king.This issue starts with a provocation. In his opening letter, editor Peter Mommsen suggests Christians are too excited about the wrong politics: ¿Questions of public justice should matter deeply to Christians. We dare not be indifferent about securing healthcare for all and ending interventionist wars; we must seek to reduce abortions and strengthen families. When an election comes, we should pray and then, perhaps, lend our support to a candidate we judge may, on balance, advance social righteousness. But if the early Christians and the Anabaptists are right, this isn¿t the politics that matters most. And so, as a matter of faithfulness, we should question how much it deserves of our passion and time. Our allegiance belongs elsewhere.¿In contrast to an election campaign, this politics may feel grittier and less glamorous. This issue of Plough Quarterly explores what this alternate vision of faithful Christian witness in the political sphere might look like.Yoüll find articles on:What two leading political theorists of left and right agree onWhat persecution taught Anabaptists about politicsThe Bruderhof¿s interactions with the stateTolstoy¿s case against making war more humaneHow some Christians read Romans 13 under fascism

Communal music has the power to shape a soul and a society.In many places today, a culture of singing and making music remains robust, despite pressure from the commercial music industry. Or it was until the Covid pandemic hit and we glimpsed what a world without communal music-making could be like. According to Plato, virtuous music is vital for building a virtuous community. Jewish and Christian traditions take this insight even further: good communal music shapes and builds up the people of God. So how can we choose good music and avoid the bad? The sheer ubiquity of music available for consumption – its presence as a near-constant soundtrack to our daily lives – poses a hazard. Digital music on tap is a temptation to chronic distraction of the soul, to a habit of superficiality and non-attention. Fortunately, the remedy is straightforward: spend less time consuming prepackaged tunes and more time making music. This will be doubly rewarding if done with others – singing with one’s family, singing in church, playing in a string quartet, starting a regular jam session. If personal media players tend to cut us off from the physical presence of others, sharing in good music together breaks the spell of isolation and disembodiment. It builds friendship and community.On this theme:- Maureen Swinger’s amateur choir sings Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion.- Stephen Michael Newby says Black spirituals aren’t just for Black people. - Mary Townsend finds Dolly Parton magnificent, but would Aristotle? - Phil Christman finds catharsis in the YouTube comments of eighties songs. - Ben Crosby says congregational singing should be unabashedly weird to visitors.- Joseph Julián González draws on ancient Nahua poets in his music.- Christopher Tin explains why he weaves so many historical influences into his music.- Seven musicians talk about making your own music in schools, churches, prisons, backyards, or children’s bedrooms: Nathan Schram, Esther Keiderling, Norann Voll, Chaka Watch Ngwenya, Eileen Maendel, Adora Wong, and Brittany Petruzzi.Also in the issue: Exclusive excerpts from forthcoming books by Eugene Vodolazkin and Esther Maria Magnis- Thoughts on music from Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, Hildegard of Bingen, Martin Luther, and Eberhard Arnold- Catholics and Anabaptists unite to commemorate the Radical Reformation- New poems by Jacqueline Saphra- A profile of Argentinian singer Mercedes Sosa.- Reviews of Kate Clifford Larson’s Walk with Me, Rowan Williams’s Shakeshafte, and Sam Quinones’s The Least of UsPlough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

A fresh twist on 24 classic poems, these visual interpretations by comic artist Julian Peters will change the way you see the world.This stunning anthology of favorite poems visually interpreted by comic artist Julian Peters breathes new life into some of the greatest English-language poets of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.These are poems that can change the way we see the world, and encountering them in graphic form promises to change the way we read the poems. In an age of increasingly visual communication, this format helps unlock the world of poetry and literature for a new generation of reluctant readers and visual learners.Grouping unexpected pairings of poems around themes such as family, identity, creativity, time, mortality, and nature, Poems to See By will also help young readers see themselves differently. A valuable teaching aid appropriate for middle school, high school, and college use, the collection includes favorites from the Western canon already taught in countless English classes.Includes poems by Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Carl Sandburg, Maya Angelou, Seamus Heaney, e. e. cummings, Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, Christina Rossetti, William Wordsworth, William Ernest Henley, Robert Hayden, Edgar Allan Poe, W. H. Auden, Thomas Hardy, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Philip Johnson, W. B. Yeats, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Tess Gallagher, Ezra Pound, and Siegfried Sassoon.

ACTION-PACKED GRAPHIC NOVEL PERFECT FOR FANS OF THE BOXERS AND SAINTS SERIES Five hundred years ago, in an age marked by war, plague, inequality and religious coercion, there were people across Europe who dared to imagine a society of sharing, peace, and freedom of conscience. These radicals were ready to die for their vision. They were executed by thousands – by water, by fire, and by sword – in both Catholic and Protestant states.  Their story comes to life in this graphic novel, the first in a series that dramatically recreates a little-known chapter in the history of the Reformation.  By Water is the historically accurate account of young people standing up for their convictions against the corrupt political and religious leaders of their day.

This best-selling volume addresses fears every human faces vulnerability, illness, aging, and dying. Yet at its core this book is more about living than dying. Arnold says living for a cause greater than ourselves enables us to face eternity with the strength that comes from faith. Drawing on stories of people he has known and counseled as pastor, relative, or friend, Arnold shows how suffering can be given meaning, and despair overcome. He offers the assurance that even today, in our culture of isolation and death, there is hope. As you read, youll meet individuals who lived life to the fullest by serving others and found a love that, as John says, casts out fear.

Though Christians the world over make yearly preparations for Lent, theres a conspicuous lack of good books for that other great spiritual season: Advent. All the same, this four-week period leading up to Christmas is making a comeback as growing numbers reject shopping-mall frenzy and examine the deeper meaning of the season.

From the winner of Russias biggest literary prizes, a richly layered novel in which a celebrated guitarist robbed of his talent by Parkinsons disease seeks other paths to immortality: by authorizing a biography and by mentoring a thirteen-year-old virtuoso battling cancer.This personal story of a lifetime quest for meaning will resonate with readers of Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Umberto Eco, and Solzhenitsyn. Expanding the literary universe spun in his earlier novels, Vodolazkin explores music and fame, belonging and purpose, time and eternity. At the stunning finale of Brisbane, all the carefully knit stitches unravel into a riddle: Whose story is it the subjects or the writers? Are art and love really no match for death? Is Brisbane, the city of our dreams, our only hope for the future?