Articles — Jonathan Merritt

20 Underrated Christmas Songs You Need to Hear This Holiday Season

Photos by Michael Schmelling & Chantal Anderson

Arts + EntertainmentJonathan MerrittDecember 20, 2023Christmas, Christmas Music, Music

Steve Martin Lost His Virginity to a Bestselling Christian Author (And Other Things I Learned from His Memoir)

Arts + EntertainmentJonathan MerrittDecember 8, 2023Steve Martin, Stormie Omartian, Comedy

From hell to atonement, musician Audrey Assad has been quietly evolving

Four years have passed between spiritual songwriter Audrey Assad’s last studio album and her new, highly anticipated record, “Evergreen.”

Arts + EntertainmentJonathanMay 18, 2018

‘Glorious glitter bomb’: Critics loved ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ but much of religious America was unimpressed

New York isn’t thought of as an exceptionally Christian town. But as I sat in the Marcy Armory on Easter Sunday night live-tweeting NBC’s broadcast of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” you could have fooled me.

Arts + EntertainmentJonathanMay 18, 2018

Justin Bieber performs Christian worship at his concert

Bieber's public display of faith in conjunction with his other shenanigans raises questions about whether it’s more helpful for celebrities to broadcast their faith or keep it to themselves.

What a gay Christian rocker’s woes tell us about American Christianity

In August, it seemed that Trey Pearson of “Everyday Sunday” would become the first openly gay artist to grace the stage at a major Christian music festival. But when he publicly announced that he would be performing at Joshua Fest, not everyone was excited about the milestone. Eleven members of Joshua Fest’s production team threatened to quit if Pearson performed, so event leaders dropped him from their roster.

Arts + Entertainment, Church, CultureJonathanOctober 12, 2016American Church, evangelicalism, LGBTQ

Can you be religious without knowing it?

An interview with David Dark on his book "Life’s Too Short to Pretend You’re Not Religious" in which he argues that even though the word “religion” gets a bad rap these days we shouldn’t just stop using it.