Today we welcome Mary Li Ma to the Anxious Bench. A research scholar, mission consultant, social scientist, and justice advocate, Mary has been working to bring attention to the problem of abuse within Chinese churches. She has a PhD in sociology from Cornell University and is author Surviving the State, Remaking the Church and The Chinese Exodus. Mary works extensively on issues of social justice and Christian mission in China, and writes for both public and Christian media in the… Read more
March 20, 2019
Who Defines Preaching Anyway? Beth Moore and Catherine of Siena
March 20, 2019 By Beth Allison Barr
0 Comments
I usually never read comments on my blogs, much less respond to them. But one recently caught my eye. It was posted on a twitter thread following a tweet by Katelyn Beaty about my last AB article posted by Scot McKnight on Jesus Creed (sorry, the social media world can be a confusing place…). This is what it says: “Women need to learn theology. Way way way too much eisigetic “teaching” today. Elizabeth Elliot witnessed and survived so, so much… Read more
March 19, 2019
“No heart would remain unstained”: The Atrocities of WWII
March 19, 2019 By Chris Gehrz
0 Comments
What should we make of the atrocities committed by American soldiers against Japanese, Italian, and German prisoners during World War II? Chris considers how even “good” wars corrode the human soul. Read more
March 18, 2019
Bill Clinton, God, and Oklahoma City
March 18, 2019 By Philip Jenkins
0 Comments
For multiple reasons, I am not a particular fan of Bill Clinton. But one speech of his always strikes me as a singular landmark in modern US political history, and specifically in matters of religion and the public square. If the rhetoric is not quite up there with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, it does demand our attention. On April 19, 1995, neo-Nazi terrorists blew up the Murragh federal office building in Oklahoma City, killing 168. Some days later, Clinton delivered a… Read more
March 15, 2019
Europe and the Experience of Slavery
March 15, 2019 By Philip Jenkins
0 Comments
ADDENDUM: I must report a ghastly synchronicity. This post concerns a historical theme that is anything but well known to non-specialists, so who thought it might be in the headlines? I wrote this post some weeks back, and it posted a few hours ago. In the hours since that posting, its contents have acquired a horrific relevance from the appalling terrorist attack in New Zealand, where Brenton Tarrant murdered dozens of Muslims. He left a manifesto explaining his actions as… Read more
March 14, 2019
The Head of John the Baptist
March 14, 2019 By johnturner
0 Comments
From the Anxious Bench archives: When I ask students to read and generate questions about the Gospel of Mark, someone always asks about the beheading of John the Baptist? What sort of mother asks her daughter to ask her father for a prophet’s head? (I can also count on a question about the fig tree, for which I never have an adequate answer). According to Mark, John the Baptist criticized Herod Antipas for having married Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Just to… Read more
March 13, 2019
The Conversion of a Feminist
March 13, 2019 By David Swartz
0 Comments
How an activist for suffrage converted to conservative Christian faith Read more
March 12, 2019
Render Unto Trump What Is Trump’s
March 12, 2019 By Chris Gehrz
0 Comments
What does “render unto Caesar” mean in the Age of Trump? Chris explains why he thinks that Jerry Falwell, Jr. has badly misinterpreted Matthew 22:21. Read more
March 11, 2019
Christianity and Other Faiths: A New Course
March 11, 2019 By Thomas Albert Howard
0 Comments
(Note: I am currently working on a small-grant application for a new course entitled “Christianity and Other Faiths: Historical Perspectives, Contemporary Engagements.” This is a work in progress but the grant narrative is below. I invite feedback.) Title and Description of Course “Christianity and Other Faiths: Historical Perspectives, Contemporary Engagements.” This new course will be introduced in Valparaiso University’s four-year interdisciplinary honors college (cross-listed in theology and history) to coincide with the release of two of my forthcoming books: The… Read more
March 8, 2019
Studying Mormonism as Christianity
March 8, 2019 By johnturner
0 Comments
When I teach my survey of what my university clumsily terms “Religions of the West,” students learn about categories such as revelation, scripture, ritual, and patterns of authority. The course focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Along the way, we discuss several expressions of these traditions over time and place, and at the end of the semester, I typically spend one or two days and introduce a brief unit on Mormonism. I do so for several reasons. For starters, I… Read more
get the latest from
Anxious Bench
Sign up for our newsletter
POPULAR AT PATHEOS Evangelical
Browse Our Archives
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Evangelical
