The Virgin Birth
dispatch

The Virgin Birth

by Meera Subramanian

By an act of God—or a Petri dish and a bit of cash.

exegesis
Experiments in Sincerity

Experiments in Sincerity

by David Dark

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats helps bring the Age of Irony to a close.

psalm
Prayers the Gods Demand

Prayers the Gods Demand

by Miriam Bird Greenberg

For the winter solstice, the gods go betting.

exegesis
Journey to the End of the Night

Journey to the End of the Night

by David Griffith

The sounds of the soul stretch from 16th-century Spain to David Lynch’s LA.

crucifiction
Islamization

Islamization

by Ali Eteraz

Nicholas Sarkozy takes her burqa-ed consort for a walk in Paris.

icon
Abandoned Souls

Abandoned Souls

by Ted Daniels

Photographing spaces of enforced meditation at Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary.

dispatch
Revelation Road

Revelation Road

by Peter Manseau

After ditching the tour group, he’s got twenty-four hours and seven very important Turkish towns to see.

crucifiction
Juan Lucas

Juan Lucas

by Susan Parker

Can a man be better than his rap sheet?

exegesis
The Big Placebo

The Big Placebo

by Sarah Posner

Bet you can’t guess what Pastor Timothy Keller thinks Manhattan needs more of.

dogma
This Is All One Colon

This Is All One Colon

by Ashley Makar

Grappling with James Agee’s punctuation, one hundred years after his birth.

exegesis
Long Count

Long Count

by Alexander Zaitchik

Suffering through 2012, Roland Emmerich’s take on a Mayan prophecy.

exegesis
2012 or Bust!

2012 or Bust!

by Jessica Weisberg

Talking down to prophecy nuts is a delicate art.

witness
Cornel West: Truth

Cornel West: Truth

by Astra Taylor

A drive through Manhattan with a jazzman in the world of ideas crammed in the back seat.

dispatch
The 2012ologists

The 2012ologists

by Andrew Marantz

Hollywood flies to Jackson Hole to hash out the apocalypse.

exegesis
Eden as Asylum

Eden as Asylum

by Becky Garrison

Lars von Trier’s Antichrist takes this reviewer through her soul’s own dark nights.

exegesis
Prodigal Son

Prodigal Son

by Mary Gordon

The running father, the starving son, the fatted calf, the husks, and the unbearable question.

More where these came from in the Reliquary.