Institute on Religion & Democracy

No doubt the Apostle Paul had reflected many times over the years how wrong he had been about the Church before Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus, Mike Powers writes in Good News Magazine.

What's Right with the Church - Good News Magazine By tracing Saul's transformation into Paul, Mike Powers reminds us that what is right about the Church is its God-given ability to help people begin, belong, and become who God created them to be through faith, community, and shared mission.

Freedom of religion is the first link in the chain that locks in and restricts the state so that citizens can live in freedom, notes Jacob Rudenstrand of the Evangelical Alliance of Sweden. For believers and non-believers alike, it lays the foundation for a liberal society.

Jacob Rudenstrand on The First Right IRD's Mark Tooley chats with Jacob Rudenstrand of the Evangelical Alliance of Sweden on his new book The First Right: Freedom to Religion. Freedom from Religion.

“But it is generally his pleasure to work by his creatures: to help man by man. He honours men to be, in this sense, ‘workers together with him’. By this means the reward is ours, while the glory redounds to him.” -John Wesley

Co-Workers with God There is a greater calling, to be a co-worker with God, to participate in his work in the world, and to be transformed in the process.

Listen/Watch: Evangelicals, historically, have largely supported the state of Israel. Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy Editor-at-Large Robert Nicholson joins Comment Magazine podcast to discuss why have evangelicals taken this stance, and what has changed.

What Does It Mean to Support Israel? Evangelicals, historically, have largely supported the state of Israel. But is support waning?

Should the state ever decide who is Christian and who is not? Briefly, the Pentagon seemed to be doing so.

Are Mormons Christian? Should the state ever decide who is Christian and who is not? Briefly, the Pentagon seemed to be doing so,...

An Ohio city treats a small home gathering as equivalent to an institutional synagogue that requires special permitting. Small, informal prayer groups have operated in Jewish and Christian homes for centuries without such licensing.

Ohio City Requires Permit for Home Prayer; Resident Appeals to Supreme Court The American founders protected religious exercise in private homes and voluntary societies from government oversight or favoritism.

Does the old Modernist Religious Left still exist? U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico's pastor, the Rev. Jim Rigby of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, may be one of its last recognizable vestiges, writes IRD's Mark Tooley.

The Last of the Protestant Modernists? James Talarico's Presbyterian pastor is one of the last old fashioned Protestant Modernists.

In a culture that tells us to follow our feelings, Stephen W. Rankin offers a timely reminder in Good News Magazine that the Holy Spirit transforms us through both renewed thinking and renewed affections, drawing us into a deeper and more mature faith.

A Mind Strangely Warmed - Good News Magazine Was John Wesley's heart strangely warmed only after his mind was first transformed? This reflection revisits Aldersgate to explore the vital connection between thoughtful faith and a vibrant spiritual life.