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    Home
    Magazine
    Alien Citizens
    Winter 2017
    ,
    NO
    11
    Red stamp reading ALIEN CITIZENS over a background of various international immigration stamps.
    Our Alien Citizenship
    Recent events may give us reason to worry about the future political direction of the Western world. Still, we can’t forget that “Our citizenship is in heaven,” as the apostle Paul writes. What do the politics of the kingdom of heaven look like?
    Peter Mommsen
    From the Editor

    Featured

    Painting of three adults and two glowing infant figures in a dimly lit interior with a small window.
    Becoming Flesh and Blood
    How should the church relate to politics? Eighteen months after Hitler’s rise to power, Arnold spoke about the dangerous politics of the Incarnation to members of his community, whose German branch had already been raided twice by Nazi forces...
    Eberhard Arnold
    Essay
    Painting of a hilltop town with terracotta buildings, greenery, and a domed white tower under a blue sky.
    Finding Utopia
    The yearning for utopia has immensely impacted history – sometimes for good, often for ill. Is the martyr Thomas More’s vision of a society free of violence and private property nothing more than an ill-founded dream?
    Essay
    Illustration of yellow and orange buildings with grey roofs under a bright yellow sky with the sun.
    In Search of a City
    The church, Scripture teaches, is where God’s politics becomes reality: it’s a city governed by the Sermon on the Mount. But does any such place exist? At the outset of my Christian journey, I was taught to keep politics and religion separate...
    Charles E. Moore
    Essay
    Blurry figure in a narrow alley reaching toward flying birds with textured walls on each side.
    Alien Citizens
    The most revolutionary political statement we can make is that Jesus reigns; that God, not nations, rules the world: “All political, all social, all educational, all human problems are solved in a concrete way by the rulership of Christ.”
    William H. Willimon
    Essay
    Old wooden barn on a grassy clearing surrounded by leafless trees under a cloudy blue sky.
    The Hole in Wendell Berry’s Gospel
    When I read Berry’s poems and essays, I sense he and I are kindred spirits. But when I consider family tales of shattered relationships, addiction, and mental illness buried under agrarian beauty, I’m troubled by the evils Berry chooses to overlook.
    Tamara Hill Murphy
    Essay
    Abstract painting of colorful buildings with blue roofs and a cloudy sky background.
    Can Society Be Christian?
    In a pluralistic world that views traditional faith with suspicion, what would a Christian society look like? What should Christians hope for their countries? Peters examines books by T. S. Eliot and R. R. Reno in pursuit of answers.
    Nathaniel Peters
    Review

    Insights

    Small village with clustered houses and red roofs atop a green hill surrounded by mountains.
    Building a Communal Church
    How should Christians live as society grows increasingly hostile to faith? Plough’s Peter Mommsen and New York Times-bestselling author Rod Dreher talk about Donald Trump, religious liberty, American empire, persecution, and Christian community.
    Rod Dreher
    Interview
    Ancient glazed brick relief showing a roaring lion walking to the left on a blue and tan background.
    I Am My Enemy
    A naturalized American Christian from Iraq looks through a unique lens at the crises engulfing her home country.
    Luma Simms
    Essay
    Boy and girl near a tent with a cross symbol, surrounded by containers and fabric quilts.
    The Real Radicals
    More and more people of Muslim background living in the Middle East are turning to Christ – and risking their lives to do so. Lyle reports some of their stories and writes how his organization, Open Doors, is working to encourage these new converts.
    Essay
    Armed masked men holding black flags with white Arabic script standing on white pickup trucks in a desert.
    ISIS, Stalin, and the Other “S” Word
    Does “love your enemy” hold true even in the face of ISIS terror and gore? Armstrong examines the context for the rise of the group, looks at the history of past violent regimes, and, ultimately, searches his own heart in the quest for an answer.
    Kurt Armstrong
    Essay
    Painting of farmers harvesting wheat and resting under a tree in a rural field with haystacks.
    The Body of Believers
    An early Anabaptist reflects on Paul’s metaphor of the church as the body of Christ.
    Ulrich Stadler
    Reading

    Arts & Letters

    Collage of five diverse individuals in different settings, including outdoor and indoor portraits.
    American Stories
    Frustrated with the world’s focus on what separates us, I set out to explore the common humanity that connects us.
    John Noltner
    Portfolio
    Watercolor painting of a man in a suit intently studying a chessboard in a cozy room.
    The Chess Player
    Short Story: Old Farmer Dyhema likes playing chess: He always wins, and there is nobody in the village who can play as well as him. But when the Christ Child arrives unexpectedly on Christmas Eve for a game, things don’t go as they always have...
    Ger Koopman
    Fiction
    Colorful artistic rendering of a group of people gathered, wearing varied bright clothing against a warm background.
    Up and Down
    Using a uniquely African medium – cloth and batik – Ugandan artist Lukandwa Dominic captures stunningly complex patterns from the natural world as well as scenes of daily life in his country.
    Another View
    Painting of a bare tree reflected in a calm forest stream surrounded by leafless trees and grass.
    Three Poems
    A priest, farmer, fisherman, hunter, and Maine Master Guide sees biblical themes reflected in the wildness of Maine’s marshes and woodlands, and beautifully distills these in spare, serene lines.
    Poem
    Readers Respond Winter 2017
    Read letters to the editor responding to articles that appeared in Plough's Autumn 2016 issue, What Makes Humans Sacred?, as well as comments regarding the magazine in general.
    Forum
    Cover of Plough Quarterly winter 2017 with bold red stamp Alien Citizens over political and religious essay titles.
    Alien Citizens
    Winter 2017
    Buy this Issue
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    Contributors

    Eberhard Arnold
    Eberhard Arnold
    Tamara Hill Murphy
    Tamara Hill Murphy
    Will Willimon
    Will Willimon
    See All

    Departments

    Editors’ Picks Issue 11
    Plough’s editors share their best reads of recent weeks. This issue (Plough Quarterly No. 11, Winter 2017) they feature a book by Albert J. Raboteau and the film Hacksaw Ridge directed by Mel Gibson.
    Sam Hine
    Editors’ Pick
    Group of adults and children smiling in front of wall with seed packets in a garden store.
    A Book to Build Community
    American values yielding to biblical ones and spontaneously occurring forms of community are some of the effects reported by readers of Plough's new title, Called to Community, in Lansing, Michigan and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
    Family and Friends
    Illustration of a person wearing a torn shirt with the text 'Freedom is more vital than a job MOHAWK'.
    Joe Strummer
    Joe Strummer’s punk rock spoke bluntly against fascism, racism, brutality, and corruption. His lyrics left listeners feeling: no, we don’t have to submissively take abuse, the future is still to be written, and we can somehow be part of it...
    Jason Landsel
    Forerunner

      Back Issues

      Worn baseball on dirt with green background and text about America's soul and baseball on magazine cover.
      Searching for the Soul of America

      How should America celebrate 250 years?

      Summer 2026
      After Religion
      What comes after religion?
      Spring 2026
      Snowy landscape with pine trees, a crucifix, rocks, and a Gothic cathedral silhouette in the mist.
      The Call of Beauty
      Beauty holds out a promise, but can we trust it?
      Winter 2026
      Illustration of a mossy mountain under a starry sky with concentric circles and yellow stars around a bright center.
      The Supernatural
      All that is seen and unseen
      Autumn 2025
        See All

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