"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). This verse is from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible, and is about the ...

Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.

The Baptism of the Lord closes the Christmas season. The next day begins the First Week of Ordinary Time, Lent following in five weeks on Feb. 17. The Christmas season is full of theophanies, i.e., ...

Two ritual observances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, are maintained by members of the Church of Christ irrespective of their denomination or of their personal spiritual maturity. Whether these ...

The Sunday after Epiphany is always the Baptism of the Lord (unless Epiphany is observed on Jan. 7 or 8 in those countries like the United States where it is transferred to a Sunday, in which case the ...

Since the third century, the Eastern Church has celebrated the baptism of Jesus as the Epiphany, an event that Western Christians associate with the coming of the Magi. Because the word epiphany means ...

To many Christians the baptism of Jesus seems almost as much of an enigma as it did to the Baptist. It serves as a precedent for our own baptism. It also forms an introduction to Christ’s ministry.

“The people were filled with expectation.” That is how Luke described the excitement around John the Baptist. When do we experience that sort of public emotion? Doesn’t it seem easier to unite around ...