Reviews For Christianity Today Magazine


Best Christian magazine on the market, bar none

For a general-purpose Christian magazine, its hard to go wrong with Christianity Today. It has a little bit of everything that touches the Christian world, whether news, theology, morality, or the devotional life. Editorials and articles are well thought-out and presented in a very intellectually engaging manner. In a couple of issues that followed the 09/11 tragedy, the magazine dealt with questions that were on the minds of many: Is Islam a religion of peace? and Is the God of Mohammad the same God as the God of Jesus Christ? The articles on those questions really nailed the issue for me. Also recently there have been ongoing discussions of Openness Theology which have been helpful. The alternating columns by Philip Yancey and Chuck Colson are worth the price of the magazine. One area that could stand some expansion is the reviews section, particularly book reviews. Besides that, its hard to find fault with this magazine.

Thoughtful intelligent surprisingly broad evangelical voice

I have read CT for years, and appreciate its ability to report on the broad Christian world, as well as current events, from an evangelical perspective that informs believers, and offers credible material for those who want to know what we think. The blend of church news, world news, culture, and theological discussion is amazing. While covering controversies within denominations and movements, CT also helps bring the broad evangelical movement together through its explication and analysis.

Some reviewers complain that CT promotes a prosperity gospel, denominational strife, or other such unbalanced views. Such mistaken views come from reading one article, or one or two issues. Magazines sometimes write interview articles on individual thinkers, and what comes across should be seen as a report of the subject's perspective, not an editorial endorsement by the interviewer. CT instructs the church, by allowing us to see what others are saying. It does so with crisp, concise and thoughtful style.

Bottom-line: Evangelicals will learn much about the world and themselves from this publication. Those interesting in knowing the thoughts, struggles and issues within evangelicalism will find Christianity Today a good starting place.

Best evangelical survey of Christian & world news & culture

Christianity Today offers interviews of major thinkers, performers, and newsmakers, with special emphasis on how they relate to the evangelical church world. Their in-house writing is mainstream evangelical, and when it comes to controversy within the movement, the writers are "painfully middle of the road." Nevertheless, since those in the middle usually get shot at from both sides, the CT garners its share of criticism from fundamentalists, liberals, and those with stark views on such subjects as sex, drugs, music, national politics, and international relations (especially regarding the Middle East).

CT is intelligent, broad, and a great starting place for anyone wishing to understand the worldview of one of the most rapidly growing segments of "Christianity Today."

The Wall Street Journal of the neo-evangelical movement

In some circles, to arrive at the office without having read the Wall Street Journal is like turning up in your boxer shorts and a sneaker. In other circles, the same can be said of 'CT', as it is known to regular readers, who include virtually everyone of influence in the evangelical movement in America.

As a CT reader for more than thirty years, I have lived with this monthly's evolution from the thought journal that the late theologian Carl Henry wished it to be, empowered to drag American evangelicalism - kicking and screaming if need be - out of the cultural backwaters. Gradually, and by means of the separation of Henry from the project, it became a more general-access piece of the kind that fellow founder Billy Graham is said to have desired.

General access is no kidding. Circulation has mushroomed over the decades and given rise to something of a Christianity Today Empire around evangelicalism's Mecca, Wheaton, Illinois.

With CT, you get news, analysis, some extremely well-written columns, and a dose of measured opinion, all of which purports to represent evangelicalism's 'middle', even if this is a constantly moving and morphing target.

More belligerent alternatives (think WORLD magazine) have sprung up to lead the culture wars, Southern Baptists have been largely coopted into the evangelical movement, and frequent contributions from evangelicalism's Christian college faculties have made CT a confident product of the evangelical establishment. Now firmly distinguished from fundamentalism - a distinction that, astonishingly, is still routinely missed by cultural elites from outside the movement - CT allows itself to cringe at antics on both the left and the right of American Christianity. The magazine has also developed a fine instinct for recognizing the leading edge of Christian activity before it becomes a recognizable trend.

Hugely influential, occasionally claustrophobic, rarely maddening, always worthwhile. CT is the WSJ of the neo-evangelical movement.

I get giddy with excitement when it arrives every month...

As a self-diagnosed Christianity Today junkie, I cannot speak highly enough about Christianity Today as a thoughtful and comprehensive resource for anyone interested in the Christian faith. CT was the brainchild of Billy Graham fifty years ago, and it maintains his strain of Christian perspective, namely evangelicalism. Graham was never interested as a preacher in answering every bit of theological and doctrinal minutiae, nor does Christianity Today aim to do so. Instead, this magazine truly covers the full spectrum of issues that impact the lives of Christians, from news stories of current events and biographies of leaders within the church to analyses of important social and spiritual matters and controversial battles (past and present). CT offers a genuinely global perspective of Christianity, telling missionary stories from around the world in each issue. There are stories of successful and thriving churches of every stripe and descriptions of the victories and successes that occur within all sorts of denominations and ecclesiastical organizations. And they periodically include debates or discussions from opposing sides of important theological ideas, offering folks from both sides a forum to state their case.

One of the things that I appreciate most about Christianity Today is their passion to do journalism the right way as Christians. They publish articles by writers with whom many of their readers will not necessarily agree, and they chronicle the lives of many folks who may be outside the church or at least affiliated with a fringe movement. They do all of this while maintaining an unabashedly clear evangelical center, which is most clearly communicated through the editorials in each issue. I love the heart of this magazine and its leadership. I love their approach to their charge as evangelical Christian journalists. I truly read each issue, cover to cover, including all of the advertisements and even the classified ads! I feel like I remain a well-educated and informed Christian when I immerse myself in this amazing resource. I find myself copying or forwarding links to at least one or two articles from each issue to friends and family whose lives I know will be touched as mine always is when I invest in reading from the pages of Christianity Today. I would recommend it to anyone.

An excellent magazine to read

So often when looking through magazines I haven't found quite what I was looking for in the Christian literature. I like the approach Christianity Today takes. It has articles that are broad, and not focused on a specific demonination. I believe the magazine has a slight evangelical bent to it. I do like the variety of articles, and coverage of current events. I would recommend this magazine for those who want to become a little more informed of Christianity in the modern world.

American evangelical Christianity's premier publication

Christianity Today began in the 1940s as an alternative to Christian Century, at a time when the "new evangelicals" (spearheaded by Billy Graham) were breaking away from fundamentalism and into the religious and academic mainstream. Fifty-something years later, it is outstanding as the voice of mainstream conservative evangelicalism in the United States.

News is generally top quality, and articles embrace a wide variety of issues (cultural, social, theological, ecclesiological etc.) from a broad range of evangelical standpoints (ranging from the fairly conservative to the progressive, eg. Sanders, Pinnock etc.). Even as an ex-evangelical, I am still guaranteed always to find something of interest within its pages.

This magazine AND Sojourners

This is a decent magazine and it's good to support an Christian magazine. But if Sojourners ~sometimes~ errors to the left- Christianity Today ~often/ persistently~ errors to the the "right."

In the current climate, I subscribe to Sojourners. CT has been too passive in letting things veer to the right-wing.

Contributor Yancey is an inspiration and a true Christian voice; while Colson is deluded by the high places of power and is a stain on an otherwise reasonable approach of CT.

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