Read it all.

Archbishop Wood inhibits Bishop Derek Jones https://t.co/bionOIAOuc via @Anglican Ink © 2025

— George Conger (@GeorgeConger8) September 22, 2025

omething more powerful than philosophical argumentation is on display here. You can’t argue someone into seeing the Grand Canyon’s beauty. But you can point and say, “Look.”

Perhaps morality is like that. Encounters with both betrayal and loyalty, selfishness and self-sacrifice, greed and generosity—these are the experiences that shape our moral views. Philosophy simply refines them.

This means that weighing the validity of moral realism is never merely an academic exercise. It’s one of the most urgent and consequential tasks we can undertake.

If moral realism is false, then our deepest moral convictions—about justice and kindness, oppression and cruelty—are just preferences. How we treat others is negotiable. The Holocaust isn’t evil, and the abolition of slavery isn’t progress. All this leaves victims of abuse, persecution, and exploitation not only with the pain of their suffering but also with the silence of a universe incapable of calling it wrong.

But if moral realism is true—if there really is a moral structure to the universe independent of human opinion—then the picture changes completely. Our longing for justice is not naive. Charity and love are truly good, and cruelty and deceit are truly bad. Each human being has inestimable worth.

In this way, The Good, the Right, and the Real is not only a philosophical argument but also a gentle plea for moral attention….

Read it all.

'If moral realism is false, then our deepest moral convictions—about justice and kindness, oppression and cruelty—are just preferences. How we treat others is negotiable. The Holocaust isn’t evil, and the abolition of slavery isn’t progress. All this leaves victims of abuse,…

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) September 22, 2025

We thank thee, heavenly Father, for the witness of thine apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of thy Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Today is the Feast of St. Matthew. Jesus called him from life as a tax collector to be an Apostle.

(The Call of St. Matthew, by Caravaggio) pic.twitter.com/vUuiB7BcVs

— Christian Culture (@Christian8Pics) September 21, 2017

Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

“I see quite clearly that all good things must come to an end. The summer has been splendid, but it has lasted long enough. This morning I welcomed the chill in the air and viewed the falling leaves with cheerfulness.” ~A.A.Milne #Autumn #AutumnEquinox 🍁 pic.twitter.com/JoFHoWwgVV

— A.A.Milne (@A_AMilne) September 22, 2025

Already you are filled! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become, and are now, as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things.

–1 Corinthians 4:8-13

Sunrise On The Equinox. 4°C and a slight frost. Geese. pic.twitter.com/mi3B8lmBNC

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) September 22, 2025

O Lord, you have taught us that without love, all our deeds are worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the true bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whoever lives is counted dead before you; grant this for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani′as. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Anani′as.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named Anani′as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Anani′as answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Anani′as departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, and took food and was strengthened.

For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed, and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called on this name? And he has come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests.” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night, to kill him; but his disciples took him by night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.

And when he had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists; but they were seeking to kill him. And when the brethren knew it, they brought him down to Caesare′a, and sent him off to Tarsus.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samar′ia had peace and was built up; and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it was multiplied.

–Acts 9:10-31

Almighty God, who didst call thy faithful servants John Coleridge Patteson and his companions to be witnesses and martyrs in the islands of Melanesia, and by their labors and sufferings didst raise up a people for thine own possession: Pour forth thy Holy Spirit upon thy Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many, thy holy Name may be glorified and thy kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates John Coleridge Patteson, First Anglican Bishop of Melanesia, and his Companions, Martyrs, 1871

Image: Carte-de-visite (1860s-70s), © National Portrait Gallery, London (CC BY-NC-ND) pic.twitter.com/CJuuyG6zpV

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) September 20, 2024

Almighty God, who hast given us powers which our fathers never knew, to probe thine ancient mysteries, and to discover thy hidden treasures: Quicken our conscience, we beseech thee, as thou dost enlighten our understanding; lest, having tasted the fruits of knowledge, we perish through our own pride and disobedience.  We ask it for Jesus Christ’s sake.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

NGC2070 Tarántula nebula in The small Megallanic cloud by James Weeb telescope #NASA #ESA pic.twitter.com/6YtZlh7md4

— Julio Maiz (@maiz_julio) September 20, 2025

‘When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.’

—Psalm 75:3

Morning everyone I hope you are well. Oak Howe Farm nestled in the Langdale Valley. Have a great day.#LakeDistrict pic.twitter.com/lfOyQjoSIA

— Rod Hutchinson (@lakesrhino) September 20, 2025

While the identity of the next Archbishop of Canterbury remains unknown, staff at Lambeth Palace refer to their incoming boss as “106”, after the next Archbishop’s position in the lineage of the see of Canterbury. There is a touch of The West Wing about it: the same system is used for Presidents of the United States, which explains why Donald Trump often had “45” on the side of his red baseball cap, and now has “45-47”. Just as the code name is redolent of American politics, the precariousness of the situation that 106 will inherit is comparable to the one faced by an incoming US administration.

Top of the to-do list is safeguarding. This is the issue that forced the resignation of 105, and will loom large in the public’s mind when 106 is announced. The new Archbishop’s first order of business will be defending their own record. The CNC, led by a former spy-chief, Lord Evans of Weardale, will be conscious of this, and whoever is chosen will have been carefully vetted. Any blemish that is uncovered after the announcement, though, will have the potential to scupper the ship before it is out of the harbour.

After the new Archbishop’s personal record has been pored over, and the Archbishop has said the right things about the need for continued structural reform in church safeguarding, they will be under intense pressure to see that such reform actually takes place. The General Synod delivered a somewhat unclear mandate in February for partial outsourcing of the Church’s safeguarding to a new independent body (News, 14 February), but there is still no firm timeline for its creation. Gaining the trust of survivors, and prominent church commentators, will be vital to winning confidence on this issue.

Read it all.

Francis Martin considers the most pressing issues that are awaiting the attention of the next Primate https://t.co/JORYRmAoZW pic.twitter.com/xQJhBfcmD0

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 19, 2025

You are a citizen of the 2020s. Device in hand, ear buds in, you wander the lanes of a strange world. You can make a trip to the shops without talking to another human being, but you can’t walk through a city without being filmed. You are never far from a screen, you can’t afford to be, and why would you want to be? The screen gives. It has abolished time, distance, boredom, longing. Is anything you see on it real? But then, what is “reality”? Who decides? Do you find this or that notion oppressive, restricting? Redefine it. Make everything new. Make yourself into what you want to be. The app is available to download.

Robot bodies may soon fight wars, robot brushes make art, robot minds write sentences like this one. Babies might emerge from artificial wombs, their mothers finally free to work and consume and play so that they may be fully liberated. There are codes to scan to access things that only yesterday you never knew you needed. Soon you might need to scan the codes to do anything at all. Soon your children will be taught STEM by a bot, and they will laugh at its jokes. The algorithm will know them better than they know themselves.

Everything, it can seem, has shifted in the 2020s, in ways that we can’t quite pin down. The surface eruptions come in the world of politics or culture, but the shift seems deeper than either. It seems, somehow, as if the world around us has fundamentally changed. But how?

The philosopher Jeremy Naydler attempts an answer in his book “In the Shadow of the Machine” (2018)….

Read it all.

WSJ Opinion by Paul Kingsnorth is excellent.https://t.co/W1Doq1EAXv

— Jonathan Greer (@greerjon) September 19, 2025

In an escalation of its already tight grip on religious freedom, China introduced a sweeping set of regulations that strictly control how clergy of officially recognized religions can operate online.

The new rules – released by the State Administration for Religious Affairs on Sept, 15 – are a continuation of Beijing’s long-term campaign to control religious practices in an effort to reshape faith so it aligns with the Chinese Communist Party.

The 18-article document, titled “Code of Conduct for Religious Clergy on the Internet,” outlines what religious leaders in China are allowed to do in the digital space. More significantly, it focuses on what they are forbidden from doing.

The rules apply to clergy of all five officially recognized religions — Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism — allowed to practice within China.

China’s policy of “sinicizing” is an effort by the CCP to control and assimilate ethnic and religious groups into a state-approved — and largely Han Chinese — identity.

Read it all.

#China tightens digital grip on clergy with sweeping new rules https://t.co/mBrRyxLl9q

— Clemente Lisi (@ClementeLisi) September 19, 2025

We may be standing at the edge of a season of renewal in America. But it won’t just happen. Pastors, vestries, members—we all have to pick up the tools God has already given us and use them.

If we do, then this isn’t just a spike in attendance. People will stay. They’ll grow. They’ll become part of the household of God.

One X user said it best: “God always brings good out of evil. The light shines in the darkness.”

That light is shining now. The question is whether we’ll lift it high for all to see.

Read it all.

Young people are going back to church:

"After years of stagnant church attendance, a surprising shift is underway. Millennials and Generation Z are emerging as the new “backbone of church attendance,” driving a resurgence in spiritual engagement, according to recent findings…

— Nancy Pearcey (@NancyRPearcey) September 17, 2025

Almighty God, who didst call thy servant Theodore of Tarsus from Rome to the see of Canterbury, and didst give him gifts of grace and wisdom to establish unity where there had been division, and order where there had been chaos: Create in thy Church, we pray, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, such godly union and concord that it may proclaim, both by word and example, the Gospel of the Prince of Peace; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

19/09/2025. Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury. Asiatic Greek who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by the pope. Reformed the Church in England and was the first Archbishop to have the willing allegiance of all Anglo-Saxon England. He died in 690 pic.twitter.com/AciMNMMhBb

— All Saints' Blackheath (@ASBlackheath) September 19, 2025

O Lord Jesus Christ, exalt me with Thee so to know the mystery of life that I may use the earthly as the appointed expression and type of the heavenly; and by using to Thy glory the natural body, I may be fit to be exalted to the use of the spiritual body.     

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Grass grows on Hadrian’s Wall during the Golden Hour, Hotbank Crags, Northumberland, England, Darby Sawchuk!❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pic.twitter.com/6zINxyJpxx

— Jim's the Man (@yesjimstheman) September 19, 2025

“Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

–Matthew 5:11-16

Good morning from Ely 🧡💙💚
Wishing you a beautiful Friday 😊
Ely, Cambridgeshire
A lovely start to the day, more photos to come 🤩#sunrise #clouds #river #TheFens pic.twitter.com/qsNMrlBS1x

— Veronica in the Fens 🧚🏼‍♀️ My Heart in Nature (@VeronicaJoPo) September 19, 2025

As night falls over Ridgecrest on this first full day of New Wineskins 2025, the words of Jesus about new wine and new wineskins resonate with special clarity. From early morning MAP talks to diocesan gatherings, from practical workshops to moments of prayer ministry, the Spirit has been moving in diverse and unexpected ways. Tonight’s plenary session brought these themes into sharper focus, calling us to consider what it means to be vessels for the new wine of God’s kingdom in our own time.

The evening began with testimony and song. Missionaries from across the globe shared stories of challenge and perseverance, of hardship endured and victories won. Their words bore witness to a truth at the heart of mission: that God is faithful, even in places of resistance and suffering. Between these stories, voices rose in worship, music offered not as performance but as prayer, reminding us that mission is born in the presence of God. A mosaic of art and song from around the world followed, filling the hall with a glimpse of Revelation’s vision of every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered before the throne. It was more than a cultural showcase; it was a foretaste of the kingdom to come, and a reminder that mission is not simply about proclamation but also about beauty, creativity, and joy.

Into this atmosphere stepped the Rev. Gabriel Ochoa of Recife, Brazil. Rev. Ochoa is a pastor, church planter, and visionary leader in Brazil’s Anglican movement. His ministry has centered on planting vibrant communities of faith and training leaders to shepherd the next generation. His words tonight were marked by urgency, vulnerability, and hope.

He began with a phrase that struck him deeply: “People love what other people are passionate about.” He asked us a piercing question: When we speak about the next generation, about church planting, how passionate are we? 

Read it all.

Day one of @newwineskins 2025 ends with powerful reminders: passion for the next gen, vocation as mission, and beauty as witness. The Spirit is still pouring new wine into new wineskins. https://t.co/BRvkKd68Fa

— American Anglican (@AnglicanCouncil) September 19, 2025

When Gracy David first moved to the city of Jaipur in India’s Rajasthan state for an architecture internship nine years ago, the then-23-year-old was nervous.

It was her first time living away from her family and paying for her own rent and food with her small stipend. She didn’t know many people in the city and, beyond her work, had no plans in the evenings or weekends.

Yet through the Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI), three Christian families in Jaipur welcomed her into their homes, giving her a “soft landing into adulting,” David recalled. They picked her up to attend church and invited her to Sunday lunches.

Read it all.

In India, Christian families are tackling Gen Z loneliness by inviting young people into their homes and lives.https://t.co/dhduRj4OLy

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 18, 2025

Sean Wittmeyer would seem to be highly employable. He has more than a decade of experience in architecture and product design, impressive coding chops and two master’s degrees. His skills make him an asset in two industries, technology and construction, which helped power the economy’s growth over the last 15 years.

But construction activity has faltered since 2023, after the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, and many tech companies began layoffs around the same time.

That helps explain why Mr. Wittmeyer, 37, has been unemployed for a year and a half, since he lost his job in business development for a company that makes software to help with real estate projects. He has been so eager to earn income that he has applied for positions befitting an intern, only to be told he was overqualified. “I can’t even work at the little board game store down the street,” he said.

When the federal government released its August employment numbers on Sept. 5, the overall unemployment rate was still relatively low, at just over 4 percent. But underneath was a concerning statistic: The portion of unemployed people who have been out of work for more than six months, which is considered “long-term,” rose to its highest share in over three years — to nearly 26 percent.

Read it all.

A decade ago about 20% of the long-term unemployed were college grads. Today it's about 1/3. And the long-term unemployment rate for college grads has been rising pretty quickly the last two years. https://t.co/PDZfBhUB73 pic.twitter.com/cLFXsQrUpb

— Noam Scheiber (@noamscheiber) September 15, 2025

Sam Altman is bullish about India. The co-founder of OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, says the country’s adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has been “unmatched anywhere in the world”. India is already OpenAI’s second-largest market by number of users and could soon be its biggest. In August OpenAI launched a cheaper version of its chatbot tailored for Indian users. It plans to open an office in New Delhi later this year. Mr Altman is himself due to visit India at the end of this month. According to Bloomberg, a news organisation, he may use the trip to unveil plans to open a mammoth data centre there.

Other tech firms are just as keen. In January Microsoft, which is also an investor in OpenAI, pledged to spend $3bn over the next few years expanding its AI infrastructure in India. In August Google and Meta both announced partnerships with Reliance Industries, the conglomerate run by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, to build data centres and push the use of AI in Indian businesses. In July Perplexity, a startup hoping to dent Google’s dominance in search, made the boldest move: it struck a deal with Bharti Airtel, one of India’s biggest telecoms firms, to provide its AI service (usually $240 a year) free for a year to all 360m Airtel customers. According to Sensor Tower, a market-intelligence firm, downloads of Perplexity in India soared by almost 800% month-on-month after the Airtel tie-up, compared with gains of 39% and 6% for ChatGPT and Gemini….

For Indians, the battle promises cutting-edge AI tools at extremely low cost. For AI firms, the payoff may lie less in revenue than in reach: the chance to lock in hundreds of millions of users, and the torrents of data they create.

Read it all.

AI is erupting in India.
The country’s adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has been “unmatched anywhere in the world”.https://t.co/9hDMibOBtj

— Prasanna Viswanathan (@prasannavishy) September 17, 2025

Grant unto us, O God, that in all time of our testing we may know thy presence and obey thy will; that, following the example of thy servant Edward Bouverie Pusey, we may with integrity and courage accomplish what thou givest us to do, and endure what thou givest us to bear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

On Wednesday, 13th November at 4pm there will be a free public lecture at Pusey House given by Prof. Timothy Larsen (Wheaton College) entitled: 'E. B. Pusey and the Tractarian Commitment to the Centrality of Scripture'.

All are most welcome to join us. pic.twitter.com/HlIIIKA3hF

— Pusey House (@PuseyHouse) November 11, 2024

O Blessed Lord, who by thy word and example hast shown us the meaning of neighbourliness and the way of love: Grant that we may learn to recognize as our neighbour every fellow man who needs our help, and to serve him with a love that is costly and unselfish, like thine own love for us.  We ask this for thy name’s sake.

Ein neuer Weg ist am Anfang schwer, in der Mitte etwas chaotisch, aber interessant und am Ende wunderschön.
🌿🍀🌷Guten Morgen 🌷🍀🌿 pic.twitter.com/sJS2Z00Adp

— Brigitta Neurauter (@BrigittaNeurau2) September 18, 2025

For thou, O Lord, art my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
 Upon thee I have leaned from my birth;
    thou art he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of thee.

–Psalm 71:5-6

A misty river sunrise along the Great Ouse in Ely.
From a walk the 18th of September four years ago.
So peaceful and beautiful. #LovEly #sunrise #autumn #thefens #goodmorning
Ely, Cambridgeshire pic.twitter.com/wXUaLc0kK5

— Veronica in the Fens 🧚🏼‍♀️ My Heart in Nature (@VeronicaJoPo) September 18, 2025

Alzheimer’s disease has proved to be a tricky target, and researchers and drug developers have been pursuing effective treatments for decades. Debates rage over the disorder’s underlying causes, and various approaches have faced one hurdle after another. But the field has reached a turning point. Over the past four years the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved several therapies that address some of the condition’s potential biological roots rather than merely mitigating symptoms—a key scientific milestone. Despite the advances, however, there is still a long list of open questions and so much work to be done.

The brains of people who die with Alzheimer’s show a distinct biology: clumps or “plaques” of amyloid beta proteins in spaces between neurons and tangles of tau proteins that accumulate primarily within the nerve cells. One prevailing theory holds that amyloid builds up early, and tau tangles develop when nerve cell damage is underway but cognitive symptoms are not yet apparent. Over time these pathogenic, or disease-causing, proteins disrupt nerve cell communication. The newest treatments—lecanemab and donanemab—bind to amyloid beta proteins, clear them from the brain and modestly slow cognitive decline.

But the progression from disease-linked proteins to actual dementia is long and inexact, and amyloid and tau proteins accumulate in people with other neurodegenerative disorders, too. With Alzheimer’s there is often a 20- to 30-year lag between the initial detection of amyloid and obvious cognitive decline. According to one study that predicted disease risk based on demographic data, death rates and amyloid status, fewer than one quarter of cognitively healthy 75-year-old women who test positive for amyloid in a spinal fluid analysis or positron-emission tomography (PET) brain scan will develop Alzheimer’s dementia during their lifetime. Such findings suggest that amyloid alone is not driving disease progression and have spurred scientists to investigate other strategies.

Read it all.

Alzheimer’s Drugs Are Finally Tackling the Disease Itself. Here’s How
While our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease is far from complete, the latest therapies, and others in more than 100 clinical trials, offer new hopehttps://t.co/8XvYneCgSy

— Global Health Observ (@GlobalPHObserv) September 16, 2025

The Most Reverend Dr Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council, has called on all “orthodox” bishops within the Anglican Communion to join a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria in early March next year.

Gafcon is a global alliance of orthodox Anglicans who are opposed to the promotion and acceptance of homosexuality, particularly within the leadership of the church. It was founded in 2008, in part as a response to the consecration of the openly gay Gene Robinson as a bishop in the US Episcopal Church in 2003.

Archbishop Mbanda said that the next six months represent a “crucial” period for the Anglican Communion, and that the Gafcon meeting, to be held from 3 to 6 March, “may be the most important assembly of authentic Anglicans since Gafcon reset the Communion at Jerusalem in 2008”.

He warned, “Revisionists deliberately divide the Communion with schismatic actions that celebrate sin, as they appoint false shepherds to lead their flock away from God’s good word. But Jesus is building his church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail!”

Read it all.

When students in my Old Testament courses contrast the allegedly messy world of the first testament with the allegedly simple, straightforward teachings of Jesus, I know for sure they haven’t read the New Testament lately. When we read the Gospels, not least Jesus’ parables, we discover him saying all sorts of bizarre, borderline offensive things.

Keith Bodner is here to help relieve our confusion. His new book, Exploring the Financial Parables of Jesus: The Economy of Grace and the Generosity of God, gives a tour of God’s “economy of grace” by focusing on “parables with a financial edge.” Indeed, Bodner suggests these parables provide “an excellent point of entry into the larger biblical story.”

Along the way, as Bodner invites us to learn from the parables, he also offers guidance on immersing ourselves in them as readers. The book thus inspires readers to engage a genre of biblical literature Bodner playfully dubs the “TikTok of the New Testament,” while equipping them with tools to engage it well.

Read it all.

Keith Bodner’s new book, “Exploring the Financial Parables of Jesus,” gives a tour of God’s “economy of grace” by focusing on “parables with a financial edge.”https://t.co/Ex1SSlyh5S

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 16, 2025

The world of pregnancy is going to radically change, predicts Noor Siddiqui. “I think that the default way people are going to choose to have kids is via IVF and embryo screening,” she said at the WIRED Health summit last week. “There’s just a massive amount of risk that you can take off of the table.”

Siddiqui is the founder and CEO of Orchid, a biotech company that offers whole-genome screening of embryos for IVF. By analyzing the DNA of different embryos before selecting which one to implant, Orchid says, parents can lower the risk their children grow up affected by conditions with a genetic basis. Siddiqui was speaking with George Church—a pioneer in genomics and a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School—at the summit in Boston, exploring the promise and potential of whole-genome sequencing.

An estimated 4 percent of people worldwide have a disease that’s caused by a single genetic mutation. With embryo screening, “these monogenic diseases can be just completely avoided,” Siddiqui said. On top of this, roughly half the world’s population suffers from a chronic disease with at least some genetic basis. Analyze five embryos ahead of implanting one, Siddiqui said, and “you can now mitigate the genetic component of that risk by these double-digit numbers. You’re talking about in the worst case 30 percent and in the best case up to 80 percent.”

Read it all.

At WIRED Health 2025, Orchid CEO Noor Siddiqui and the genomics pioneer George Church laid out their view of the future of genetic screening. https://t.co/1lBgEZBdwK

— WIRED (@WIRED) September 15, 2025

O God, by whose grace thy servant Hildegard, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1179)

Born in Germany, she became a Benedictine nun and Abbess. She received visions since the age of three, and was ordered to write them down. She composed short works on medicine and physiology, and sought advice from St. Bernard of Clairvaux. pic.twitter.com/rpdC9lXTV9

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) September 17, 2025