Back to all writers

Patheos Featured Writers

Thomas Kidd
Columnist

Thomas Kidd teaches history at Baylor University and is Senior Fellow at Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. His newest book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, published in 2011 with Basic Books. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution was published in 2010, also by Basic Books. Additional recent books include American Christians and Islam, published in 2008 by Princeton University Press, The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America, published by Yale University Press in 2007, and The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, with Bedford Books in 2007. He has appeared on the Glenn Beck television program and written op-eds for USA Today and the Washington Post.

Works by Thomas Kidd
“Ask Jesus into Your Heart”: A History of the Sinner’s...
Thomas Kidd | May 31, 2016
...
Martin Luther King and the History of Religious Extremism
Thomas Kidd | May 24, 2016
...
Reassessing the Boston Tea Party
Thomas Kidd | May 17, 2016
...
Edmund Burke, Trumpism, and the Worst of Both Worlds
Thomas Kidd | May 10, 2016
...
The Stunning Statistics of the Slave Trade
Thomas Kidd | May 03, 2016
...
Was Jonathan Edwards Wrong About Interpreting God's...
Thomas Kidd | April 26, 2016
...
The GOP Race: Is Ted Cruz Our Best Option?
Thomas Kidd | April 19, 2016
...
Culture-Changing Christians
Thomas Kidd | April 12, 2016
...
The New United States: A "Christian Nation"?
Thomas Kidd | April 05, 2016
...
Who Is the Mormon Jesus?
Thomas Kidd | March 29, 2016
...
Scalia's Worst Decision?
Thomas Kidd | March 26, 2016
...
The Bible: Mass Distribution and Massive Ignorance?
Thomas Kidd | March 22, 2016
...
Should You Apply to Graduate School?
Thomas Kidd | March 15, 2016
...
American Colonial History: Clashing Cultures and Faiths
Thomas Kidd | March 08, 2016
...
The Pro-Life Movement’s Liberal Argument
Thomas Kidd | March 05, 2016
...
How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation
Thomas Kidd | March 01, 2016
...
The Constitution "Divinely Inspired"? Ben Franklin Answers
Thomas Kidd | February 23, 2016
...
Ted Cruz: When Civil Religion Goes Too Far
Thomas Kidd | February 16, 2016
...
Why the Founding Fathers Spoke the King James Bible
Thomas Kidd | February 09, 2016
...
The Perfect Religious President
Thomas Kidd | February 02, 2016
...
How Much Do You Need To Read Before Writing?
Thomas Kidd | January 26, 2016
...
How Not to Market a Book
Thomas Kidd | January 19, 2016
...
Why I Joined Marco Rubio's Religious Liberty Advisory...
Thomas Kidd | January 12, 2016
...
Donald Trump and the Crisis of American Populism
Thomas Kidd | January 05, 2016
...
Top Posts of 2015, Anxious Bench
Thomas Kidd | December 29, 2015
...
Christmas in 1776
Thomas Kidd | December 22, 2015
...
Patriotism is on Behalf Of, Not Against, All Nations
Thomas Kidd | December 20, 2015
...
Top Five Books on Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Kidd | December 15, 2015
...
Ben Franklin, Anti-Catholicism, and the Founding of the...
Thomas Kidd | December 08, 2015
...
Woodrow Wilson, Race, and the Depravity of Human Nature
Thomas Kidd | December 03, 2015
...
Donald Trump and Monitoring Muslims
Thomas Kidd | December 01, 2015
...
This Thanksgiving, Stop Idolizing the Pilgrims
Thomas Kidd | November 24, 2015
...
Islam: Inherently Violent?
Thomas Kidd | November 17, 2015
...
The Origin of "In God We Trust"
Thomas Kidd | November 10, 2015
...
The Most Evangelical Founding Father?
Thomas Kidd | November 03, 2015
...
Choosing a Book or Dissertation Topic
Thomas Kidd | October 27, 2015
...
Donald Trump and the Coming Christian Political...
Thomas Kidd | October 20, 2015
...
How and When to Say 'No'
Thomas Kidd | October 13, 2015
...
Heads up on key new books in American and global religious...
Thomas Kidd | October 12, 2015
...
Searching for the Political Messiah
Thomas Kidd | October 06, 2015
...
Welcome to New Blogger Dr. Beth Allison Barr!
Thomas Kidd | October 03, 2015
...
Jonathan Edwards and the Sanctified Emotions
Thomas Kidd | September 29, 2015
...
Should We Elect a Muslim President?
Thomas Kidd | September 22, 2015
...
Why Are Academic Books So Expensive?
Thomas Kidd | September 15, 2015
...
The Biblical Case for Organized Labor
Thomas Kidd | September 09, 2015
...
The Ex-Baptist Pastor Who Popularized Ben Franklin's...
Thomas Kidd | September 08, 2015
...
How to Write an Excellent Statement of Purpose for...
Thomas Kidd | September 01, 2015
...
Graduate Course Readings in Early American Religion
Thomas Kidd | August 25, 2015
...
The "Evangelicals" Who Support Donald Trump
Thomas Kidd | August 18, 2015
...
Teaching Salem Witchcraft
Thomas Kidd | August 11, 2015
...
How Far Mike Huckabee Has Fallen
Thomas Kidd | August 04, 2015
...
Reports of Evangelicalism's Demise Are Overblown
Thomas Kidd | July 28, 2015
...
Professors and the New Public Sphere
Thomas Kidd | July 21, 2015
...
What Are The Most "Important" Topics in American History?
Thomas Kidd | July 14, 2015
...
Should Evangelicals Embrace the "Benedict Option"?
Thomas Kidd | July 07, 2015
...
Yes, Remove the Confederate Flag. But What Then?
Thomas Kidd | June 30, 2015
...
#CharlestonSyllabus
Thomas Kidd | June 27, 2015
...
How Can Southern Baptists Get Their Groove Back?
Thomas Kidd | June 23, 2015
...
Benjamin Franklin, Skepticism, and The Enlightenment
Thomas Kidd | June 16, 2015
...
Caitlyn Jenner, The Duggars, and The Culture of Gawking
Thomas Kidd | June 09, 2015
...
Mark Noll on Darwinism
Thomas Kidd | June 03, 2015
...
The Blind Spots of an American Evangelical
Thomas Kidd | June 02, 2015
...
Baptists in America: A History
Thomas Kidd | May 26, 2015
...
Why Weren't Baptists More Enthusiastic Patriots?
Thomas Kidd | May 19, 2015
...
Do You Love Theology More Than Jesus?
Thomas Kidd | May 12, 2015
...
"Theological Police"? Paleo Evangelicals and Ben Carson
Thomas Kidd | May 05, 2015
...
Ben Carson and Baptist Identity
Thomas Kidd | April 28, 2015
...
What's at Stake in Indiana's Religious Freedom Law?
Thomas Kidd | April 21, 2015
...
Should You Pursue a Ph.D.?
Thomas Kidd | April 14, 2015
...
The Counterintuitive Art of Promoting Books
Thomas Kidd | April 07, 2015
...
Can Evangelicals Become More Likeable?
Thomas Kidd | March 31, 2015
...
What Is Deism?
Thomas Kidd | March 24, 2015
...
Handling Rejection in Academic Writing
Thomas Kidd | March 17, 2015
...
"The Enlightenment" and Its Relevance Today
Thomas Kidd | March 10, 2015
...
"Woven into the fabric of our country"? Islam in Early...
Thomas Kidd | March 03, 2015
...
What Motivates Jihadists?
Thomas Kidd | February 24, 2015
...
Which Is Better: Small Church or Big Church?
Thomas Kidd | February 17, 2015
...
Gordon Wood on Bernard Bailyn
Thomas Kidd | February 16, 2015
...
Secularization and Scotland's Christian Heritage
Thomas Kidd | February 10, 2015
...
Ben Franklin's Calvinist Father
Thomas Kidd | February 03, 2015
...
Baptist Student Union and the Vietnam War
Thomas Kidd | January 27, 2015
...
The Church and Robert Nisbet's Quest for Community
Thomas Kidd | January 20, 2015
...
Is Islam Inherently Violent?
Thomas Kidd | January 13, 2015
...
The Church and the Dissolving American Family
Thomas Kidd | January 06, 2015
...
Top Posts of the Year, Anxious Bench
Thomas Kidd | December 30, 2014
...
George Whitefield's Christmas, 1739
Thomas Kidd | December 23, 2014
...
Happy 300th Birthday George Whitefield!
Thomas Kidd | December 16, 2014
...
Do You Need a Literary Agent?
Thomas Kidd | December 09, 2014
...
"More a Doctrine than a Person": Evangelicals and the Holy...
Thomas Kidd | December 02, 2014
...
The Biographers and Jonathan Edwards
Thomas Kidd | November 25, 2014
...
Interpreting "America’s Pastor"
Thomas Kidd | November 20, 2014
...
Ben Franklin's Calvinist Sister
Thomas Kidd | November 18, 2014
...
Why a Conference Paper is Usually Just a Conference Paper
Thomas Kidd | November 11, 2014
...
David Skeel's _True Paradox: How Christianity Makes Sense...
Thomas Kidd | November 04, 2014
...
George Whitefield: Bridging the Evangelical and Academic...
Thomas Kidd | October 28, 2014
...
C.S. Lewis, Public Intellectual
Thomas Kidd | October 21, 2014
...
Does the Bible Prohibit Revolution?
Thomas Kidd | October 14, 2014
...
Those Suspicious Medical Missionaries
Thomas Kidd | October 07, 2014
...
Advice for the Dismal Academic Job Market
Thomas Kidd | September 30, 2014
...
Graduate Course on the American Revolution
Thomas Kidd | September 23, 2014
...
The New Birth: A Uniquely American Concept?
Thomas Kidd | September 16, 2014
...
How to Survive Graduate School
Thomas Kidd | September 09, 2014
...
Writing a Book, From Start to Finish
Thomas Kidd | September 02, 2014
...
Choosing a research topic
Thomas Kidd | August 26, 2014
...
Writing in the In-Between
Thomas Kidd | August 21, 2014
...
Hating One's Enemy in Early America
Thomas Kidd | August 19, 2014
...
An Interview with Mark Cheathem, Author of Andrew Jackson,...
Thomas Kidd | August 16, 2014
...
A Family Guide to Visiting Philadelphia
Thomas Kidd | August 12, 2014
...
How Violent Was American Slavery? Colonial Slave Codes
Thomas Kidd | August 05, 2014
...
Evangelizing Slaves and Colonial Christianity
Thomas Kidd | July 29, 2014
...
Christianity, Violence, and World War I
Thomas Kidd | July 22, 2014
...
Five Great Books on Evangelical Christianity
Thomas Kidd | July 15, 2014
...
The "Evangelicals" Who Are Not Evangelicals
Thomas Kidd | July 08, 2014
...
Penn Prof: Religious Colleges Should Not Be Accredited
Thomas Kidd | July 07, 2014
...
"A Decision of Startling Breadth"? Reflections on Hobby...
Thomas Kidd | July 01, 2014
...
Runaway Slave Ads and the Violence of Slavery
Thomas Kidd | June 24, 2014
...
Phillis Wheatley and the Evangelical Anti-Slavery Movement
Thomas Kidd | June 17, 2014
...
Anti-Catholicism: The Defining Religious Principle of...
Thomas Kidd | June 10, 2014
...
What Can Stop Southern Baptist Decline?
Thomas Kidd | June 03, 2014
...
Fasting from Technology
Thomas Kidd | May 27, 2014
...
A Review of David Swartz's Moral Minority
Thomas Kidd | May 21, 2014
...
An Interview with Steven Smith on Religious Liberty
Thomas Kidd | May 20, 2014
...
Should Christians Date Online?
Thomas Kidd | May 13, 2014
...
Five Year Anniversary for Patheos and the Best of My Posts
Thomas Kidd | May 06, 2014
...
An Interview with Philip Jenkins on The Great and Holy War
Thomas Kidd | April 29, 2014
...
Clemson vs. The Secularists
Thomas Kidd | April 22, 2014
...
Churches "Pandering" to Millennials?
Thomas Kidd | April 15, 2014
...
The Quaker Contribution to Religious Liberty
Thomas Kidd | April 08, 2014
...
The Art of the Book Review
Thomas Kidd | April 01, 2014
...
Yes, Religious Liberty is Threatened in America
Thomas Kidd | March 25, 2014
...
An Interview with Andrew O'Shaughnessy, Author of The Men...
Thomas Kidd | March 22, 2014
...
George Marsden and the Gift of Clear Writing
Thomas Kidd | March 18, 2014
...
“Ask Jesus into Your Heart”: A History of the Sinner’s...
Thomas Kidd | March 11, 2014
...
Tocqueville's Uncanny Vision
Thomas Kidd | March 04, 2014
...
What to Publish, and When?
Thomas Kidd | February 25, 2014
...
Recovering Lemuel Haynes: Patriot Hero, African American...
Thomas Kidd | February 18, 2014
...
How to Stop Fiddling Around and Start Writing
Thomas Kidd | February 11, 2014
...
So You're Thinking of Homeschooling...
Thomas Kidd | February 04, 2014
...
"Experts" and Evangelical Subculture
Thomas Kidd | January 28, 2014
...
Howell Harris and Wales's Great Awakening
Thomas Kidd | January 21, 2014
...
Antebellum African Missions and the Evangelical South
Thomas Kidd | January 14, 2014
...
Of Platforms and Publishing
Thomas Kidd | January 07, 2014
...
New Year's Resolution: Read More Books!
Thomas Kidd | December 31, 2013
...
Was Christmas in Revolutionary America a Drunken Bash?
Thomas Kidd | December 24, 2013
...
How to Publish a History Book
Thomas Kidd | December 17, 2013
...
The Virtues of a Free (Christian) Press
Thomas Kidd | December 10, 2013
...
Why Homeschool?
Thomas Kidd | December 03, 2013
...
Review of R. Tracy McKenzie's The First Thanksgiving
Thomas Kidd | November 26, 2013
...
Clergy Housing Allowances Ruled Unconstitutional
Thomas Kidd | November 25, 2013
...
"A New Birth of Freedom": The Gettysburg Address
Thomas Kidd | November 19, 2013
...
The Supreme Court and Deity-Specific Prayers
Thomas Kidd | November 12, 2013
...
Why I Am Still a Baptist
Thomas Kidd | November 05, 2013
...
Evangelical-Mormon "Detente"?
Thomas Kidd | October 31, 2013
...
"Psychedelic Christians": The Legacy of the Jesus People
Thomas Kidd | October 29, 2013
...
Interpreting Demonic Possession
Thomas Kidd | October 22, 2013
...
Slavery: America's Original Sin?
Thomas Kidd | October 15, 2013
...
The Puritans as Masters of Reform
Thomas Kidd | October 08, 2013
...
Five Great Books on George Washington
Thomas Kidd | October 01, 2013
...
Paleo Evangelicals and the Plight of Prisoners
Thomas Kidd | September 24, 2013
...
When the United Nations Did Good: Os Guinness and...
Thomas Kidd | September 17, 2013
...
The Roots of Evangelical Opposition to Syrian Intervention
Thomas Kidd | September 10, 2013
...
Paleo Evangelicals and Syria
Thomas Kidd | September 03, 2013
...
Duck Dynasty's Cultural Christianity
Thomas Kidd | August 27, 2013
...
Rod Dreher's Little Way of Ruthie Leming
Thomas Kidd | August 20, 2013
...
The History of the Jesus People: "God's Forever Family"
Thomas Kidd | August 17, 2013
...
The Bible, Slavery, and Sin
Thomas Kidd | August 13, 2013
...
When God Spoke Greek
Thomas Kidd | August 10, 2013
...
Do Christian Kids Need Christian Education?
Thomas Kidd | August 06, 2013
...
Bible Wars and the Origins of the Term "Inerrancy"
Thomas Kidd | July 30, 2013
...
The Strange Career of the Antimission Baptists
Thomas Kidd | July 23, 2013
...
The Historical Genius of Edmund Morgan
Thomas Kidd | July 16, 2013
...
Calvinism and the Roots of the Missionary Movement
Thomas Kidd | July 09, 2013
...
Five Compelling Books on the American Revolution
Thomas Kidd | July 02, 2013
...
America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
Thomas Kidd | June 25, 2013
...
The NSA Controversy, the Founding Fathers, and the Fourth...
Thomas Kidd | June 18, 2013
...
Graduate Course Readings in Early American Religion
Thomas Kidd | June 11, 2013
...
You Might Be a Paleo Evangelical If...
Thomas Kidd | June 04, 2013
...
Hope for Revival in Britain?
Thomas Kidd | May 28, 2013
...
Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?
Thomas Kidd | May 21, 2013
...
Benjamin Franklin, George Whitefield, and the Founding of...
Thomas Kidd | May 14, 2013
...
Welcome New Anxious Bench Blogger David Swartz!
Thomas Kidd | May 11, 2013
...
"An Army of the Living God": Stonewall Jackson's Death and...
Thomas Kidd | May 07, 2013
...
Welcome New Anxious Bench Blogger Miles Mullin!
Thomas Kidd | May 04, 2013
...
Three Cheers for the Twidiocracy
Thomas Kidd | April 30, 2013
...
Background Checks and the Branch Davidians
Thomas Kidd | April 23, 2013
...
Understanding the Puritans
Thomas Kidd | April 16, 2013
...
Can North Carolina Make Christianity Its Official...
Thomas Kidd | April 09, 2013
...
"Great Pillars of Human Happiness": How Religion Frames...
Thomas Kidd | April 02, 2013
...
What is "Christian History"?
Thomas Kidd | April 01, 2013
...
What Does Jesus Look Like?
Thomas Kidd | March 26, 2013
...
With Signs Following: Baptists and the Holy Spirit
Thomas Kidd | March 19, 2013
...
American Evangelicals' Global Vision Began in Korea
Thomas Kidd | March 14, 2013
...
C.J. Mahaney Steps Down as President of Sovereign Grace...
Thomas Kidd | March 12, 2013
...
C.S. Lewis, Public Intellectual
Thomas Kidd | March 05, 2013
...
Calvinist Controversy at Louisiana College
Thomas Kidd | February 26, 2013
...
Homeschooling: A Fundamental Human Right?
Thomas Kidd | February 19, 2013
...
The Puritans: Neither Democratic nor American?
Thomas Kidd | February 12, 2013
...
The Quandary of African American Evangelicalism
Thomas Kidd | February 06, 2013
...
George Whitefield, Confessional Protestant Whipping Boy
Thomas Kidd | February 05, 2013
...
"Look For a Building With a Cross On It": Escaping North...
Thomas Kidd | January 29, 2013
...
The debate over David Barton's The Jefferson Lies...
Thomas Kidd | January 23, 2013
...
Fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Thomas Kidd | January 22, 2013
...
Jonathan Edwards's Scottish Connection
Thomas Kidd | January 15, 2013
...
"An Index to Books": John Erskine and The Evangelical...
Thomas Kidd | January 08, 2013
...
New Year's Resolution: Read More Books!
Thomas Kidd | January 01, 2013
...
George Whitefield's Christmas, 1739
Thomas Kidd | December 25, 2012
...
Christmas in 1776
Thomas Kidd | December 18, 2012
...
The "Regulated Freedom" of James Henley Thornwell,...
Thomas Kidd | December 11, 2012
...
Five Compelling Religious Biographies
Thomas Kidd | December 04, 2012
...
Albert Mohler on Leadership
Thomas Kidd | November 27, 2012
...
Not All Turkey and Touchdowns
Thomas Kidd | November 20, 2012
...
Culture-Changing Christians
Thomas Kidd | November 13, 2012
...
Are Evangelicals Welcome on the "Front Porch"?
Thomas Kidd | November 06, 2012
...
Religion and the Success of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Thomas Kidd | November 01, 2012
...
Do's and Don'ts for Evangelicals on Election Sunday
Thomas Kidd | October 30, 2012
...
Should a Candidate's Faith Matter to Paleo Evangelicals?
Thomas Kidd | October 23, 2012
...
Paleo Evangelicals as Reluctant Republicans
Thomas Kidd | October 16, 2012
...
Albert Mohler Interview with John Turner on Brigham Young
Thomas Kidd | October 14, 2012
...
An Interview with George Marsden and Mark Noll on the Idea...
Thomas Kidd | October 13, 2012
...
David Barton, Civil Religion, and Patriotic Idolatry
Thomas Kidd | October 10, 2012
...
Slavery, Historical Heroes, and "Precious Puritans"
Thomas Kidd | October 09, 2012
...
The Future of Evangelicalism Online
Thomas Kidd | October 06, 2012
...
A Balanced Evangelical View of America's Founding
Thomas Kidd | October 02, 2012
...
"Volunteering" to Pray: Church, State, and College...
Thomas Kidd | September 25, 2012
...
"Thenceforward, and Forever Free": Remembering Antietam...
Thomas Kidd | September 18, 2012
...
"Tweet for Youcef": Social Media and Religious Liberty
Thomas Kidd | September 11, 2012
...
Barack Obama: Self-Professed Evangelical?
Thomas Kidd | September 04, 2012
...
Welcome New Anxious Bench Bloggers, Agnes and Tal Howard
Thomas Kidd | September 02, 2012
...
Jonathan Edwards on True Christianity
Thomas Kidd | August 28, 2012
...
Stephen Covey: Mormon Theologian?
Thomas Kidd | August 22, 2012
...
Paul Ryan and the Curious Case of the Missing Evangelicals
Thomas Kidd | August 21, 2012
...
The Latter-Day Saints and Race
Thomas Kidd | August 18, 2012
...
Farewell to My Favorite Used Bookstore
Thomas Kidd | August 14, 2012
...
Puritans: The Original Republicans?
Thomas Kidd | August 07, 2012
...
The National Parks' Best Kept Secret? Junior Rangers
Thomas Kidd | July 31, 2012
...
Patrick Henry, Homeschooler
Thomas Kidd | July 24, 2012
...
Best 5 Books on the Puritans
Thomas Kidd | July 17, 2012
...
"Ask Jesus into Your Heart": A History of the Sinner's...
Thomas Kidd | July 10, 2012
...
The Top 5 Forgotten Founders
Thomas Kidd | July 03, 2012
...
New York Times on Mormon History
Thomas Kidd | July 03, 2012
...
How Significant is Fred Luter's Election for Southern...
Thomas Kidd | June 26, 2012
...
Evangelicals and Romney: Politics Trumps Theology?
Thomas Kidd | June 19, 2012
...
Do Christian Kids Need Christian Education?
Thomas Kidd | June 12, 2012
...
"Traditional" Baptists and Calvinism
Thomas Kidd | June 05, 2012
...
G.K. Chesterton and the Nightmare Goodness of God
Thomas Kidd | May 29, 2012
...
Hell: Who Goes There, and For How Long?
Thomas Kidd | May 22, 2012
...
For Falls Church Anglican, Farewell to a Historic Building
Thomas Kidd | May 15, 2012
...
United Methodists Maintain Traditional Stance on Sexuality
Thomas Kidd | May 08, 2012
...
Ross Douthat's Vanishing Christian Center
Thomas Kidd | May 02, 2012
...
From Arab Spring, Winter is Coming
Thomas Kidd | April 05, 2012
Amid the eclipse of religious liberty, is tiny Tunisia showing the way to the light?...
Not Clinging to Religion?: Charles Murray's "Coming Apart"
Thomas Kidd | March 21, 2012
Reducing the gospel of Christ to the consumerism of Christendom has hastened the......
A Jeremiad with Statistics: Christian Smith on the...
Thomas Kidd | March 06, 2012
The average American teenager's cultural diet of school, media, sports, and/or church is......
Slavery: America's Original Sin?
Thomas Kidd | February 01, 2012
Acknowledging slavery does not detract from the Founders' accomplishments....
Is the "War on Religion" a Myth?
Thomas Kidd | January 18, 2012
The Supreme Court's Hosanna-Tabor decision was a triumph for religious liberty, but the......
The Presbyterian Pope
Thomas Kidd | January 04, 2012
Why everyone interested in American religious history should know about Charles Hodge....
Was Christmas in Revolutionary America a Drunken Bash?
Thomas Kidd | December 22, 2011
Anxiety about how to celebrate Christmas has been with us for centuries....
Patrick Henry, Homeschooler
Thomas Kidd | December 07, 2011
How Patrick Henry's upbringing helped make him the "First among Patriots."...
Not All Turkey and Touchdowns
Thomas Kidd | November 23, 2011
The religious roots of Thanksgiving speak to the essence of America, and against the......
The Scandal of the Evangelical Experts?
Thomas Kidd | November 09, 2011
How can we upgrade evangelical intellectual life? A derisive piece in the "New York......
When Baptists Voted for a Heretic
Thomas Kidd | October 25, 2011
The Baptist alliance with Thomas Jefferson illuminates today's controversies over Mitt......
Remembering America's First Published African American...
Thomas Kidd | October 11, 2011
On Jupiter Hammon's 300th birthday, we need to remember his Christian witness....
Can You Take the "Southern" Out of Southern Baptist?
Thomas Kidd | September 27, 2011
A name change for the Southern Baptist Convention has history on its side....
Can You Be Christian on Campus?
Thomas Kidd | September 13, 2011
Pressuring Christian groups to open membership to everyone creates, ironically, a new......
Thou Shalt Not Say "Jesus"
Thomas Kidd | August 30, 2011
Recent court rulings expose growing constraints on religious speech....
Does Good Parenting Make Any Difference?
Thomas Kidd | August 15, 2011
"Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids" is a bewildering mix of sound advice and scary......
Secular Extremism, Evangelicals, and Rick Perry's...
Thomas Kidd | August 03, 2011
Frivolous lawsuits obscure important questions about the Texas governor's prayer......
Why Are There So Few Muslim Terrorists?
Thomas Kidd | July 28, 2011
Evangelicals are suspicious that Islam encourages violence. But if that is so, why are......
Erasing Hell, Erasing Bell
Thomas Kidd | July 11, 2011
Francis Chan's new book offers a powerful biblical answer to Rob Bell's Love Wins....
An Evangelical Guide to the GOP Primary
Thomas Kidd | June 28, 2011
Focus on leadership, not just values....
Sarah Palin and Historical Hypocrisy
Thomas Kidd | June 14, 2011
Why a real understanding of history is essential to America's health....
The Fox News Curse, and the Next Evangelical President
Thomas Kidd | May 31, 2011
How Mike Huckabee's and Sarah Palin's dalliance with Fox News may help make Tim Pawlenty......
Why Churches Should Stop Performing Marriages
Thomas Kidd | May 17, 2011
The sooner the church stops partnering with the state in civil marriages, the sooner it......
"If It's Not King James, It's Not the Bible"
Thomas Kidd | May 03, 2011
The four-hundredth anniversary of the most important book ever published in English is......
Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?
Thomas Kidd | April 19, 2011
Christians need to balance charity toward Muslims with acknowledgment of our deep......
God and the Civil War
Thomas Kidd | April 05, 2011
What does the 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter tell us about God's role in......
For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Audacity of "Love Wins"
Thomas Kidd | March 23, 2011
Rob Bell's new book should remind us that when someone promotes a biblical......
The Prosperity Gospel of Oprah Winfrey
Thomas Kidd | March 09, 2011
Oprah Winfrey is a successful religious leader, but we should watch out, lest our faith......
Can Religious Liberty Become "Halal"?
Thomas Kidd | February 23, 2011
Some Muslim leaders have gone on record favoring religious liberty, but with the sea......
Are Muslims America's Spiritual Enemies?
Thomas Kidd | February 09, 2011
From Catholics to Muslims, Americans have always worried about a great religious rival....
How to Raise Boring Children
Thomas Kidd | January 26, 2011
A new book offers a better parenting philosophy than the "Tiger Mother."...
How Evangelicals Lost Their Way on Alcohol
Thomas Kidd | January 12, 2011
Southern Baptists' feuds over drinking show how evangelicals argue themselves into......
Is Evangelicalism Standing the Test of Time? "The...
Thomas Kidd | December 29, 2010
One of evangelical Christianity's landmark documents reveals surprising changes and......
Christmas in 1776
Thomas Kidd | December 15, 2010
The Founders of our Republic would have been thoroughly perplexed by our annual feuds......
The Tea Party, Fundamentalism, and the Founding
Thomas Kidd | December 01, 2010
Historian Jill Lepore's new book calls the Tea Party a repackaged fundamentalism. Her......
Public Prayer and the Founding Fathers
Thomas Kidd | November 15, 2010
Completely eliminating religion from public life is not what the Founders meant by......
What Evangelicals Can Learn from the Election
Thomas Kidd | November 04, 2010
Evangelicals were active in the Tea Party movement. But overtly evangelical candidates......
The Rise of Conservative Christian Women
Thomas Kidd | October 08, 2010
What Palin, O'Donnell, Angle, and Haley have in common: they're reviled by the Left, and......
The Disinvitation of Franklin Graham
Thomas Kidd | April 26, 2010
Franklin Graham's recent statements transgress the Christian mandates of charity and......
Demonizing Muslims: a Christian Tradition
Thomas Kidd | August 07, 2009
American Christians have long regarded Islam as flawed and violent, even demonic....
View all featured writers
Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.