The Weekend – 9-20-25 – Non-Members

September 18, 2025
CT Weekly

This edition is sponsored by Aspen Group


weekend reads

“This is an article about penal substitutionary atonement,” wrote Brad East at CT this week. “I’d like to attempt the herculean feat of discussing [it] without slander, rancor, or resort to a straw man.”

What follows is a very helpful guide to our debates about the saving work done on the cross. But it’s also a meta-commentary on how we talk about any contentious theological issue. Too often, “rhetorical points [count] more than fairness, clarity, or mutual respect between groups of fellow believers.” 

Matthew Loftus levels a related critique in his review of Why Christians Should Be Leftists. The author “hasn’t given the average right-leaning Christian any especially compelling arguments for swinging left,” he writes. He ignored commonalities between Christian positions across the aisle and even included a “handful of whoppers” to back up his claims.

“There are many Christians, like me, who wouldn’t mind paying higher taxes to help fund a more vigorous welfare state, even as we maintain strong convictions about abortion, marriage, and euthanasia,” Loftus concludes. “Unfortunately, we are still waiting for a book that might convince our left-skeptical friends to join us.”

Last chance to subscribe and join the 9/24 live event. Join Russell Moore and Lecrae for a free, member-exclusive live conversation and Q&A on the future of evangelicalism. Become a member before 9/22 to get 25 percent off your subscription with code LECRAE and gain access to the event. Subscribe now.


weekend listen

This week on The Bulletin: Conversations about Brian Kilmeade’s comments, Marco Rubio’s trip to Israel, and the reasons Trump’s rise to power should be considered a revolution. 

“As a matter of public hygiene, I think it’s a really good thing that [Kilmeade] made this apology. … It’s direct. It’s sincere. He takes full responsibility for what he said; he acknowledges how inappropriate it was.” | Listen here.


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editors’ picks

Bonnie Kristian, editorial director, ideas and books: All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Evangelicalism,” by Matthew Milliner for First Things. Also, my colleague Daniel Silliman’s new Substack

Kate Lucky, senior editor, culture & engagement: My toddler son loves the board books, especially “rocket ship book” (Psalm 139), from the creators of the Jesus Storybook Bible. This one about the Lord’s Prayer features a “wet dog” he also enjoys.


prayers of the people


more from CT

After the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, how do pastors lead well in a fractured, reactive age? Here are five pastoral questions for this moment.

He didn’t hedge or soften his positions to broaden appeal; he underlined them.

A new book immerses us in the strange, subversive logic of his financial parables.

Convicted on drug trafficking charges, Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was baptized in prison.


IN THE MAGAZINE

The Christian story shows us that grace often comes from where we least expect. In this issue, we look at the corners of God’s kingdom and chronicle in often-overlooked people, places, and things the possibility of God’s redemptive work. We introduce the Compassion Awards, which report on seven nonprofits doing good work in their communities. We look at the spirituality underneath gambling, the ways contemporary Christian music was instrumental in one historian’s conversion, and the steady witness of what may be Wendell Berry’s last novel. All these pieces remind us that there is no person or place too small for God’s gracious and cataclysmic reversal.

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