James Martin
James Martin is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by James Martin
Pope Francis on civil unions: Another step toward common ground with the LGBTQ movement
By Alphonso David and James Martin — October 29, 2020
(RNS) — Underlying the pope’s support for gay civil unions is his own long history decrying homophobia and calling for LGBTQ people to be treated with respect and dignity.
COMMENTARY: What Gethsemane teaches us about suffering
By James Martin — April 14, 2014
(RNS) In Gethsemane, Jesus experiences the full range of human emotions, and he shares them with his friends in a fully human way. For us, expressing sadness and fear allows us to set aside our desire to be in control. It is also an invitation to let others love us.
Film explores bumper-sticker theology
By James Martin — March 11, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. _ Nestled in a tiny office above a video rental store just south of Portland, Ore., filmmakers Dan Merchant and Jeff Martin are preparing to launch their first movie together. The two members of Lightning Strikes Entertainment have spent about three years investigating a nationwide disconnect between […]
Some worry Habitat dispute might stall Katrina recovery
By James Martin — January 16, 2008
c. 2008 Religion News Service (UNDATED) I’m tired of being used as an epithet. Here’s a plea from a real-life Jesuit: Can we stop using the word “Jesuitical” to mean deceitful, dishonest and dissembling, like Hillary Clinton seems to have done last weekend? Last Sunday (Jan. 13) on “Meet the Press,” Tim Russert grilled Clinton […]
COMMENTARY: Reasonable faith, unreasonable fear
By James Martin — November 29, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) In Sean Penn’s recent movie “Into the Wild,” there is a touching scene between an elderly man, played by Hal Holbrook, and a young wanderer, portrayed by newcomer Emile Hirsch. The elderly man, who is depicted as a devout Catholic, teaches the young man, who is on a quest […]
COMMENTARY: The answer is blowin’ in the wind
By James Martin — November 15, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When I was studying philosophy as a seminarian, I was delighted to come across St. Thomas Aquinas’ five proofs for the existence of God. Finally, I thought, I’ll be able to prove God’s existence to all of my doubting friends! Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Thomas and […]
COMMENTARY: Compare and Despair
By James Martin — October 6, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) When I was a Jesuit novice, I started to complain to my novice director. Everyone else in my Jesuit community seemed to have it easier than I did. Their prayer seemed easier, they seemed to have fewer family problems, and they seemed more certain about their futures. My novice […]
COMMMENTARY: Does Jesus’ `Tomb’ Mean the End of Faith?
By James Martin — March 1, 2007
c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) For many years I’ve wondered about the following scenario: What if an archeologist turned up the bones of Jesus and had some decent proof? And what if they were found in such a way that it was hard to deny the claims? What if a tomb was marked with […]
N.J. Lawmakers Cool to Gay Marriage
By James Martin — October 28, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service TRENTON, N.J. _ Half of New Jersey’s 40 state senators say they would not support a bill legalizing gay marriage, dimming chances for the state to become the second to recognize homosexual partners the same way it views husbands and wives. After the New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday (Oct. […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: Big Faith on the Silver Screen
By James Martin — October 24, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Rare is the saint’s biographer who can avoid these words in the first few pages of the book: “His life would make a great movie!” or “Her story was like something out of a Hollywood film!” So with Nov. 1 _ All Saints Day _ nearly upon us, here […]
Judge Says Coach Can Kneel While Players Pray
By James Martin — July 27, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. _ A federal judge ruled Tuesday (July 25) that a high school football coach can bend a knee and bow his head while his players recite pre-game prayers this season, ending a dispute that had mushroomed into a nationally recognized test of the separation of church and […]
GUEST COMMENTARY: It’s Getting Hard to Tell the Christians From the Lions
By James Martin — July 6, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The description of a special method of torture that U.S. soldiers inflicted on Iraqi prisoners was instantly familiar. As someone who has read many histories of the Christian martyrs, it didn’t take long to remember where the brand of punishment had been used before. “Other detainees were locked for […]
COMMENTARY: Me, Dan Brown and Mrs. Jesus Christ
By James Martin — May 19, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Even my mother wanted to know. “Was Jesus was really married to Mary Magdalene?” she asked after reading “The Da Vinci Code,” and “Did Mary and her kids really move to France?” Since the book’s publication in 2003, those questions have been asked of me by people of every […]
COMMENTARY: Are You a Closet Heretic?
By James Martin — April 8, 2006
c. 2006 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Many American Christians might be “closet heretics.” If you ask most Christians if they believe that Jesus was divine, you should get a resounding yes. They believe in the miracles, in the authority of his preaching, and, most of all, in the Resurrection. (For the record, so do I.) […]
Page 1 of 1
