exegesis

reviews and commentary

jewish_bloom

Bloom Is A Jewish Name

By Joanna Brichetto | April 9, 2015

A trio of symbolic Easter flowers, appropriated.

allwhogo

Out of Orthodoxy

By Zackary Sholem Berger | March 23, 2015

New books map the space between Chasidism and the outside world.

living_reminders

We Are Living Reminders

By Kelly J. Baker | September 3, 2014

HBO’s The Leftovers and grief

rhinoroom

The Rhino In The Room

By Kevin Childress | August 26, 2014

Ionesco’s 1959 play about Fascism sheds light on contemporary Islamophobia.

calvary

Calvary Won’t Set you Free

By S. Brent Plate | August 5, 2014

Small parables about the possibilities of life beyond Catholicism.

baby_tech

The Gospel of Intuition

By Ryan Harper | July 24, 2014

Those who reject the commodity are not fully human.

9780300169218

This Mutant Genre

By Jeff Sharlet | April 29, 2014

The introduction to a new anthology Radiant Truths: Essential …. Essays on American Belief

Excerpted from....

Stones As Social Media

By S. Brent Plate | March 11, 2014

Adapted from A History of Religion in 5 ½ Objects (Beacon Press, March 11th)

Kids in front of gas flare in Niger Delta, 2007 (© Elaine Gilligan)

A Series of Small Leaps

By Jessica Wilbanks | February 11, 2014

Writing about witchcraft, children, and desperation in the Niger Delta.

shame_picture

Faith as Addiction?

By S. Brent Plate | January 21, 2014

Re-viewing Oscar nominee Steve McQueen’s Shame

1_redacted

Impossible without a body: a song, (breath), and dust

By Francesca Rendle-Short | January 7, 2014

An agnostic daughter redacts her creationist father’s work.

Mass in Latin, yes, but outdoors? Hmm.

That’s Not the Priest From Rome, Surely?

By Mary Valle | October 2, 2013

Rugged scenery, Martin Sheen’s resplendent sideburns, inquiries into the nature of faith, Catholics has it all.

TheGiantVermin, via Flickr

Love is an Animal Thing

By Beatrice Marovich | August 15, 2013

Barbara King’s new book How Animals Grieve raises questions about grief, and its emotional corollary, love, for humans too.

Steve Rhodes, via Flickr

Color and Consciousness

By Kaya Oakes | August 1, 2013

Bruce Reyes-Chow curates tough, necessary conversations about race.

wondercreation

A Wonder-Cabinet of Creation(ism)

By Michael Schulson | May 20, 2013

Snakes appear in almost every one of the museum’s exhibits, perhaps as a reminder of Satan’s lone virtue: persistence.

egglestonmustang

Dear Mr. Eggleston

By Greg Bottoms | March 18, 2013

When I hold your photograph, I’m looking at our car in the Sears parking lot in 1976, and time has collapsed.

by _cheryl, via flickr

The Eye of the Tiger

By Samuel Biagetti | January 3, 2013

Life of Pi and the Orientalist mystique.

plymouth_statue

Monumental Lies: Jefferson, Reconstructed

By Gordon Haber | November 16, 2012

Why we should be afraid of the vision David Barton–and Kirk Cameron–hold for America. Somewhat afraid.