John Moore, "Lindisfarne Castle and Abbey, Holy Island, by Moonlight," oil on canvas, 1877. By Rod Benson When I was ten or eleven years old, Mrs Woodward, one of my teachers, asked us to “do a project” on the “Dark Ages.” I believe I had not heard of this mysterious concept, but I did my …
On Brandi Carlile returning to herself
By Rod Benson Brandi Carlile’s Returning to Myself, her first solo release in four years, was recently named Song of the Year at the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards. It is not explicitly a Christian song, yet my friend and Baptist theologian Steve Harmon’s description of it as a work of “theological anthropology” is perceptive. In …
Six gifts of Celtic spirituality for Christian worship
By Rod Benson Christian worship is enriched when it draws from the breadth of the Christian tradition rather than relying on a single inherited pattern. Among the streams that have attracted renewed attention is the Christianity associated with Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other Celtic-speaking regions. The expression “Celtic Christianity,” however, requires careful definition. There was …
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