“The event of prayer, certain acts called prayer, the very word ‘prayer’ have gathered such ridiculous associations. That is not only the case with the obscene performances, which pass as public prayer, at inaugurations, in locker rooms, before Rotary luncheons, and in many churchly sanctuarie...

“Remember, now, that the state has only one power it can use against human beings: death. The state can persecute you, prosecute you, imprison you, exile you, execute you. All of these mean the same thing. The state can consign you to death. The grace of Jesus Christ in this life is that death fai...

In view of the publisher’s special discount, I’ve decided to have a week of Stringfellowing here at F&T… Both in his writing and in his personal life, William Stringfellow presented a powerful critique of the cult of ordination. (A couple of weeks ago, I myself visited a church that used the t...

Thanks to our friends at Wipf & Stock, all of William Stringfellow’s works are now available to F&T readers at a big discount: if you buy any of his books from their website (they have reprinted all his works), you can enter the coupon code STRINGFELLOW40 to receive a 40% discount off the ...

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY? Before we frolic a little too flippantly through the season, hear William Stringfellow PREMATURE FROLICKING. "For all the greeting card and sermonic rhetoric, I do not think that much rejoicing happens around Christmastime, least of all about the coming of the Lord. Ther...

Paul writes – In a recent post which linked to an essay by Brian Walsh, I mentioned William Stringfellow – a person I haven’t mentioned on this blog for a while. Here’s a 2005 article written by Bill Wylie-Kellermann, In One Another's Light: Reading [Martin Luther] King and Stringfellow , fo...

"MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" Amid his crucifixion, Jesus dies and lives by the Word of God JESUS EMBODIES PSALM 22. In our Tenebrae Service earlier this evening, as the last of seven candles on the altar was extinguished and the sound of a door slammed, I stood in the dark sanctuary a...

HEAVY PARODY IN HOLY WEEK William Stringfellow's insights into paradoxical responses in Holy Week BELIEF AND DISBELIEF. “In the drama of the redemption of the world in the Word of God, Holy Week is heavy parody,� says William Stringfellow. “If in such events the disciples exemplify not faith i...