Research / Essays

Essays

The questions we face today regarding life, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity require more than platitudes and theories. Our churches and communities need to be able to clearly understand and articulate why our convictions are undergirded by the timeless truths of God’s Word and principles of wisdom.

Our essays our designed to explore relevant topics in a more in-depth fashion than a standard article. They will help you answer the “why” of various issues that are the focus of the ERLC’s advocacy work.

The essays we produce are for you. Share them with your friends, neighbors, and church members as you work out how to live as a disciple of Jesus in today’s world.

Latest Research essays

View our most recent essays exploring the cultural issues affecting our churches and communities.

Flipping the script in the abortion debate

Strengthening the Christian pro-life ethic after Roe

The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in the summer of 2022 was a watershed moment in the pro-life movement. It overturned the deadly precedent...

The New Challenges of Cultural Engagement

How Christian Leaders Can Respond Courageously, Cooperatively, and Locally

This is a unique moment in the history of American Christianity: Legal protections for the expression of faith in the public square have never been stronger...

What is a woman? 

God’s intent for sex and gender 

As many a man has discovered, most women don’t like being called “emotional.” The term is at once a dismissal and a putdown, an implication that...

What is a man?

Looking at a historical, contemporary, and essential answer

To pose the question “what is a man?” a few decades ago in the United States, and to pose it now in most parts of the...

Research resources

The Research work of the ERLC produces essays, white papers, and guides designed to shape evangelical conversations and equip you to faithfully address ethical and moral issues.

Essays

Long-form content

These 3,000-4,000-word articles deal with topics important to the Research team's work.

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White Papers

Academic studies

These downloadable papers explain an ethical or theological position on issues relevant to the ERLC's mission.

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Guides

Practical and theological church resources

These ebooks, handbooks, statements, and other resources are accessible and applicable to churches and ministry leaders.

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