Flunking Sainthood

  Yesterday we talked with Tony Jones about the content of his new book, The Church Is Flat. Today we’re doing a behind-the-scenes look at why he decided to self-publish for the first time, and what he learned from the experience. If you’ve ever thought about putting a book on the Kindle, read this. –JKR…

When I think about my favorite folks in the emerging church conversation, one of them is certainly Tony Jones, one of the movement’s founders. It was Tony’s book The New Christians that first introduced me to the idea of church as a wiki, which has been a transformational notion for me. So I was excited…

Lots of news to report this week. First, hooray for new temples in South Africa, Colombia, and the D.R.C. as well as two in the American West.  Apparently the prototype at left is the preferred redesign among my Facebook friends for the Provo Tabernacle/Temple. I think it will play well in Utah County. I confess…

This week, the cover story in the Christian Century is one I was asked to write about the “Mormon Moment” in America today, and all the attention given to the LDS faith in the wake of Broadway’s Book of Mormon musical, the presidential runs of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, and the polygamous family of…

I love Facebook, as and I’ve explained before, I think the idea of social media has strong theological import as well as pure entertainment value. (I admit there’s not much theological insight to be gained from looking up ex-boyfriends, but…there it is.) I’ve been on board with Facebook for almost three years now, and I’ve…

In July, I attended my first Muslim wedding, and it was an unforgettable occasion. The bride has been a good friend of mine for almost a decade, and in that time I’ve heard about the ups and downs of halal dating and the quest for the right mate. She came close to the altar—make that…

So it turns out that N.T. Wright gets almost as irritated as I do when people say “Revelations” and not “Revelation” to refer to the final book of the New Testament. I’m always delighted to be joined in my pedantry, so . . . thanks, Bishop! That’s one of the many tidbits I learned in…

Hi friends — This past weekend when speaking at a retreat, I presented some highlights from the Twible project and then had workshop participants try their hand at tweeting some chapters. We had a fantastic time and I think people understood one of the great advantages of this project for me over the last two…

I’ve recently had the privilege of being interviewed for John Morehead’s TheoFantastique podcast, which explores the intersection of sci fi/fantasy and religion. We had a great conversation over Skype about Buffy, Buddhism, postmodern cafeteria religion, and the commodification of the soul. Check it out if you are as geeky as I am. You just might…

I’m coming off a weekend high: a fabulous New Hampshire retreat with my peeps, an opportunity to try out scenes from my forthcoming book Flunking Sainthood on a new audience, and a chance to hang out with three of my best friends from the Princeton days, who moved heaven and earth to be there for…

Jana Riess
about

Jana Riess

Jana Riess is the author of Flunking Sainthood, a 2011 book about failing at twelve different spiritual practices. She is also currently working on The Twible, a three-year Twitter project with humorous daily Bible updates for your amusement (find her on Twitter as @janariess). She has a few silly degrees from swanky schools but was never once able to climb the rope in gym class. Her spiritual director is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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