I turned in my manuscript to Our God Is an Awesome Brand on the twilight of Eastertide earlier this month. When I sent in the manuscript to my editor at Brazos Press, I didn’t include a conclusion outside of the concluding chapter of the book. Since turning in the manuscript, I’ve spent some considerable time thinking about what an epilogue to the book would have looked like. I’ve tried to demonstrate restraint in providing too many spoilers about the book, over the... Read more
I’m researching Catholic families in seventeenth century England. Catholicism was outlawed and its practice could be punished with death—and from time to time there were indeed outbursts of violence against the small Catholic community. In spite of this oppression and suppression, Catholics still tried to share their faith and convert Protestants around them, even though such proselytizing could result in prosecution. Missionary efforts and attempts at conversion are key to Christian history. In many ways, Christian history over the last... Read more
My current research involves the loss and rediscovery of Jewish and Christian scriptures, with a focus on the years between roughly 1870 and 1940. However, my next few blogposts are going to explore these themes of “lost and found” much more broadly and cross-culturally, before circling back round to that Biblical/Scriptural focus. I think the themes that emerge are really enlightening in many areas. So today, I will begin far away from the Christian world, in the deepest foundations of... Read more
In a homily on Palm Sunday, Pope Leo XIV condemned violence and war and those who perpetuate it: “This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.” He goes on to cite Isaiah 1:15, “[God] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Leo XIV, Homily). This... Read more
Helen H Gardener (1853–1925) was a celebrated reformer in the Gilded Age and Progressive era, and she is a major character in the book I am presently writing on the 1890s. She was a central figure in feminist and suffragist causes, and especially in the defense of women and young girls from male sexual depredations. Her greatest cause, and her greatest victories, involved the raising of the age of consent, which prior to the 1890s had been incredibly low (ten... Read more
I’ve been interested in a sort of apparent paradox over the last few months. You can see the thread in all of the posts dedicated to pentecostal/charismatic Christianity and technological adoption. How is it that a movement so interested in reliving the past was so enmeshed in newer forms of technology and media production? How did that “old-time religion” produce modern media moguls and folks living on the bleeding edge of technological adoption? So far, I’ve focused a lot of... Read more
Diversity and Sanctification A week ago we celebrated Easter, Christ’s victory over death, hell, and the grave. Without debate, Christ’s bodily resurrection is the most central and consequential event — and doctrine — of the Christian faith. The apostle Paul makes this clear in I Corinthians 15:14 when he writes, “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” During my Good Friday morning devotions, I compared the crucifixion accounts of Luke and... Read more
Author’s children cleaning their grandfather’s headstone We walked gingerly over the browning grass and the clumps of disturbed desert clay, careful not to disrespect the dead buried below. At our designated plot, we unfurled a blue outdoor blanket onto which two of my children knelt, spray bottle and dust rag in hand. As they cleaned my father’s dusty headstone, my older son guided my mother onto her knees, then held open an umbrella over her to block the sun. I... Read more
Shakespeare has the legendary stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear.” My own version of that in my scholarly work has been, “Write, pursued by Theosophists.” In my last few books, I have found Theosophy and Theosophists cropping up in so many different topics, and often, unexpectedly central to that subject, and above all in the era from roughly 1875 through 1940. Among other areas, that includes the Western encounter of South Asian religion; the modern rediscovery of alternate scriptures... Read more
“It became a snare to Gideon and to his house” Judges 8:27 I debated for a couple of weeks whether or not to address the startling allegations against UFW labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez, who I have written about multiple times in the last two years at the Anxious Bench and in other essays. In fact, I was recently interviewed about the impact of these allegations. I figured with the interview that I have said what I wanted to... Read more
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