Faith, Fertility, and the Remaking of Islam

Last updated on: January 15, 2019 at 9:02 am By Philip Jenkins

I am using a map to illustrate some long term megatrends in the history of religion. Although the map specifically concerns Islam, many of the same lessons apply to Christianity. The map appeared in Samuel M. Zwemer, The Moslem World (New York: Young People’s Missionary Movement of the United States and Canada, 1907-1908). Samuel Marinus Zwemer (1867-1952) was an exceptionally important figure in the US missionary world at that time. “Sixteen years a missionary in Arabia,” he earned the title... Read more

Which Western Civilization?

Last updated on: January 18, 2019 at 4:05 pm By Philip Jenkins

The world of Classics is currently facing intense debates over race and racism, and the recent meeting of the Society for Classical Studies included a panel that apparently degenerated into ugly name-calling. Rather than addressing the many issues at stake there, I will focus on one, namely the whole question of “Western Civilization.” Briefly, conservatives in these debates are anxious to defend Classics as representing core values in the defense of Western Civilization, while critics see that whole concept as... Read more

John Myles, the early New England Baptists, and Liberty

Last updated on: January 17, 2019 at 1:51 am By johnturner

John Myles (sometimes written Miles) was among the most important Baptist ministers in seventeenth-century New England. I first encountered Myles in an essay by my co-blogger Philip Jenkins, who wrote about the role of Miles in opposing the spread of Quaker beliefs and practices in southern Wales.[1] Back in 1649, Myles had gained the pulpit at Ilston, near Swansea, turning its parish church into a magnet for those who rejected infant baptism in the area. As Philip notes, the first... Read more

“Joe Brown, Joe Brown, He’s a Mean White Man”: Southern Baptist Seminary and the Convict-Lease System

Last updated on: January 17, 2019 at 11:34 am By David Swartz

An evangelical seminary tries to reckon with its history of white supremacy Read more

12 Books by Women You Should Read This Year

Last updated on: January 15, 2019 at 4:08 am By Chris Gehrz

An Anxious Bench book club: 12 books by - and mostly about - women that Patheos Evangelical readers should read this year. Read more

Remembering Gary Knoppers (1956-2018)

Last updated on: January 11, 2019 at 9:24 am By Philip Jenkins

This past Christmas season was darkened by the loss of a great friend who was also an excellent Biblical scholar, Gary Knoppers. He was only 62 at the time of his death. I had known Gary for thirty years, mainly through his time at Penn State, where he variously belonged to Religious Studies and CAMS (Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies), and he headed that latter unit. We also belonged to the same Episcopal church, of which he was an ever-dependable... Read more

Marie Kondo: Magical Asian Sage for Our Untidy Times

Last updated on: January 10, 2019 at 2:58 pm By Melissa Borja

The families, homes, and clutter habits featured on the Netflix reality show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo are as diverse as America, but Japanese home organizing consultant Marie Kondo always begins her tidying projects in the same way: with a ritual in which she greets and thanks the house. This ritual is one of the most dramatic and poignant moments in the episode, and it follows a consistent script throughout the show. After Kondo explains her intent and offers instructions... Read more

What Will Evangelicals Say to Jesus?

Last updated on: January 8, 2019 at 10:02 pm By Beth Allison Barr

“White Jesus has blood on him.” Angela Tarango, Associate Professor of Religion at Trinity University, said this during the Conference on Faith and History’s 2019 panel for the American Historical Association meeting in Chicago last weekend. The panel (which I was so excited to have organized) featured Jennifer Graber’s excellent and provocative book The Gods of Indian Country: Religion and the Struggle for the American West. Dr. Tarango’s statement startled me. On the one hand, she is spot on. Christians,... Read more

Before “true love waits” there was Josh McDowell and Petra

Last updated on: December 26, 2018 at 12:42 pm By Chris Gehrz

Thanks to Jared Burkholder for writing this morning’s guest post on the history of evangelical purity culture. A history professor at Grace College and Seminary, Jared blogs at The Hermeneutic Circle and can be followed on Twitter @jsburkholder. Those of us who experienced the evangelical youth group subculture of the 1980s and 90s are now in mid-life, and some of my fellow mid-lifers are reflecting back on the “purity movement” that began in those years. The conversation has been led largely by... Read more

Extinction Rebellion

Last updated on: January 6, 2019 at 2:52 pm By Philip Jenkins

Recently, a couple of semi-humorous stories made me think about a far graver set of issues, and one that might be one of the major ethical and religion-related issues of the coming years. When does a political cause become such a matter of life and death that it demands illegal actions? The main news story concerned the truly bizarre affair at England’s Gatwick airport, where reported drone activity shut down this hugely busy transit point just before Christmas. Many flights... Read more