Daniel Silliman
@danielsilliman.bsky.social
News editor at Christianity Today. Historian who wrote a religious bio of Richard Nixon. Raising chickens, bees, and cats in Appalachia.
Pinned
“Let the transient things be the ground on which my soul praises you, God creator of all.” —Augustine, *Confessions*
Chariots of Fire but make it Mormons and pickleball
November 12, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Chariots of Fire but make it Mormons and pickleball
Appreciated this—an important book about the mounting legal attacks on free press.
November 12, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Appreciated this—an important book about the mounting legal attacks on free press.
Supreme Court decides to pass on opportunity to revisit the constitutional protection of same-sex marriage.
November 10, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Supreme Court decides to pass on opportunity to revisit the constitutional protection of same-sex marriage.
Thomas Cranmer’s advice on preaching, around the time he became Archbishop of Canterbury: Definitely keep it under an hour and a half.
November 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Thomas Cranmer’s advice on preaching, around the time he became Archbishop of Canterbury: Definitely keep it under an hour and a half.
A breathtaking organizational collapse
(Probably some lessons here.)
(Probably some lessons here.)
November 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
A breathtaking organizational collapse
(Probably some lessons here.)
(Probably some lessons here.)
Doesn’t look good
“While on staff, Gross said, he heard a “credible report” that Wood and Sutton had a conversation about a possible presentment…they were “floating the possibility” of a “bishop-friendly” Board of Inquiry…stacking [it] with clergy and parishioners deferential to senior leadership.”
wapo.st/43Obygs
wapo.st/43Obygs
Second woman says U.S. Anglican Church archbishop sexually harassed her
A new allegation adds to a crisis facing the denomination founded by conservatives who split from the Episcopal Church in the early 2000s over an openly gay bishop.
wapo.st
November 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Doesn’t look good
Back when religious conflict came with limericks
November 5, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Back when religious conflict came with limericks
Love a good opening line.
Finally, @danielsilliman.bsky.social in Christianity Today, with the best opening line of any review I've received:
"I first heard of Thomas Jefferson’s Bible as a warning."
www.christianitytoday.com/2020/12/jeff...
"I first heard of Thomas Jefferson’s Bible as a warning."
www.christianitytoday.com/2020/12/jeff...
Thomas Jefferson Tried to ‘Fix’ the Bible. He Only Succeeded in Making It Sad. - Christianity Today
The third president’s attempts to revise Scripture offer a warning about our own tendency to “edit” the truth.
www.christianitytoday.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Love a good opening line.
When newspapers couldn't just link the documents
November 3, 2025 at 3:56 PM
When newspapers couldn't just link the documents
The power of positive Peale
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
The power of positive Peale
Hard times www.11alive.com/article/news...
Woman sits in car for 14 hours to get food during New Birth Baptist church food giveaway
More than 2,000 people waited in their cars in line Saturday morning in order to receive food.
www.11alive.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Hard times www.11alive.com/article/news...
Whatever the best theological explanation of the mechanics of salvation—how it works that Christ’s death works—a good account should start with the fact it works *for you.* It should include the prepositional power of the crucifixion.
November 2, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Whatever the best theological explanation of the mechanics of salvation—how it works that Christ’s death works—a good account should start with the fact it works *for you.* It should include the prepositional power of the crucifixion.
Books the algorithm thinks I might find interesting, correctly
October 28, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Books the algorithm thinks I might find interesting, correctly
The shape of spirituality is, partly, shaped by the politics of navigating around power.
From my weekend email on media, church history, and prayer: danielsilliman.substack.com/i/176817474/...
From my weekend email on media, church history, and prayer: danielsilliman.substack.com/i/176817474/...
The Ones Who Go from Bad to Good
Faith for a redemption arc.
danielsilliman.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
The shape of spirituality is, partly, shaped by the politics of navigating around power.
From my weekend email on media, church history, and prayer: danielsilliman.substack.com/i/176817474/...
From my weekend email on media, church history, and prayer: danielsilliman.substack.com/i/176817474/...
A thesis: The news can be written and delivered in a way that prompts virtue.
... like how some urban design encourages safer driving, some makes it feel crazy to walk.
sillimandaniel.substack.com/i/176221135/...
... like how some urban design encourages safer driving, some makes it feel crazy to walk.
sillimandaniel.substack.com/i/176221135/...
Push Toward Virtue
“Let the transient things be the ground on which my soul praises you, God creator of all.” —Augustine
sillimandaniel.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
A thesis: The news can be written and delivered in a way that prompts virtue.
... like how some urban design encourages safer driving, some makes it feel crazy to walk.
sillimandaniel.substack.com/i/176221135/...
... like how some urban design encourages safer driving, some makes it feel crazy to walk.
sillimandaniel.substack.com/i/176221135/...
Squirrel sitting on top of the target on my neighbor’s shooting range, eating nuts and chittering, like tempting fate’s not a thing.
October 14, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Squirrel sitting on top of the target on my neighbor’s shooting range, eating nuts and chittering, like tempting fate’s not a thing.
From the archives, the evangelical "Mount Rushmore," per 1970s @christianitytoday.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
From the archives, the evangelical "Mount Rushmore," per 1970s @christianitytoday.com
Reposted by Daniel Silliman
Great read: @danielsilliman.bsky.social goes from gas station memories to the nearby casino to examine how gambling has become a form of alternative spirituality for Americans.
"To me, at least, all this gambling sounds like wild, misdirected prayer."
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
"To me, at least, all this gambling sounds like wild, misdirected prayer."
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
The Secret Prayers of Gamblers - Christianity Today
Locating the spiritual longing hiding in America’s obsession with betting.
www.christianitytoday.com
October 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Great read: @danielsilliman.bsky.social goes from gas station memories to the nearby casino to examine how gambling has become a form of alternative spirituality for Americans.
"To me, at least, all this gambling sounds like wild, misdirected prayer."
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
"To me, at least, all this gambling sounds like wild, misdirected prayer."
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
Reposted by Daniel Silliman
a remarkably thoughtful piece by my colleague @danielsilliman.bsky.social on the spirituality of (yes, really, folks!) gambling
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
The Secret Prayers of Gamblers - Christianity Today
Locating the spiritual longing hiding in America’s obsession with betting.
www.christianitytoday.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:12 PM
a remarkably thoughtful piece by my colleague @danielsilliman.bsky.social on the spirituality of (yes, really, folks!) gambling
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
www.christianitytoday.com/2025/09/gamb...
Classic cover from the @christianitytoday.com archives
October 2, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Classic cover from the @christianitytoday.com archives
I first discovered John Huffman, the one minister around Nixon who told the president he should publicly confess to Watergate, in the digital archives of old newspapers.
Only later did I realize he was connected to @christianitytoday.com, was still alive, and I would one day write his obit.
Only later did I realize he was connected to @christianitytoday.com, was still alive, and I would one day write his obit.
September 30, 2025 at 9:58 AM
I first discovered John Huffman, the one minister around Nixon who told the president he should publicly confess to Watergate, in the digital archives of old newspapers.
Only later did I realize he was connected to @christianitytoday.com, was still alive, and I would one day write his obit.
Only later did I realize he was connected to @christianitytoday.com, was still alive, and I would one day write his obit.
Today in the life of my Appalachian church, we remembered the hurricane that hit a year ago, prayed for a family whose daughter has died, for a family whose daughter is having emergency brain surgery, and for a minister who has returned home to a country at war.
Also, Scripture, singing, a potluck.
Also, Scripture, singing, a potluck.
September 28, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Today in the life of my Appalachian church, we remembered the hurricane that hit a year ago, prayed for a family whose daughter has died, for a family whose daughter is having emergency brain surgery, and for a minister who has returned home to a country at war.
Also, Scripture, singing, a potluck.
Also, Scripture, singing, a potluck.
Popular Trinitarian beliefs not adding up, per the latest Lifeway study.
September 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Popular Trinitarian beliefs not adding up, per the latest Lifeway study.
A sixth conference is looking at leaving the Mennonite Church USA, the progressive anabaptist denomination that formed in 2002
September 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
A sixth conference is looking at leaving the Mennonite Church USA, the progressive anabaptist denomination that formed in 2002