The Anxious Bench Half-Year in Review

Now that the first half of 2017 is behind us and the 4th of July weekend is ahead of us, let’s review some Anxious Bench highlights — and suggest some holiday reading, in case you notice something you missed the first time. Not surprisingly, the new presidential administration has generated lots of page views so far.

First, the top 10 most-read new posts so far this year.

1. I Do Not Owe “Total Allegiance” to America (Chris)
2. 10 Things Christians Get Wrong About Feminism (Kristin)
3. Betsy DeVos, Sandra Bullock, and the Historical Cost of School Choice (Rusty Hawkins)
4. A Brief History of Vacation Bible School (Chris)
5. Are Women Human in Christian Academia? (Beth)
6. 5 Reasons Why Christians Should Study History (Chris)
7. Still Searching for Christian America (Kristin)
8. Is Complementarian Theology Abusive to Women? (Kristin)
9. A Report from the Women’s March on Washington (Mandy McMichael)
10. Remembering the Armenian Genocide (Chris)

Then for each of our regular bloggers (minus David, who was on sabbatical until June) and our pool of guest writers, you’ll find their three most-read new posts. Plus I’ll use my editorial discretion to recommend one more lesser-read post by each author that deserves a second look:

Agnes Howard

1. Leadership for All?
2. Adam and Eve Are Not Dead
3. Could Protestants Reclaim Purgatory?

In case you missed it the first time… Agnes looked to the history of Puritanism for “The Benedict Option, New England Edition.”

Beth Allison Barr

1. Are Women Human in Christian Academia?
2. Did Medieval Christians Know Jesus?
3. Top Ten Bible Verses in Medieval England

In case you missed it the first time… Beth shared her own experience of “Handling Personal Crises in Academic Life.”

Chris Gehrz

1. I Do Not Owe “Total Allegiance” to America
2. A Brief History of Vacation Bible School
3. 5 Reasons Why Christians Should Study History

In case you missed it the first time… The death of an elderly friend got me thinking about “History as an Act of Gratitude.”

John Turner

1. 

   Keller and Coulter, Orthodoxy and Heresy
2. Where is John the Baptist’s Head?
3. Bernie Sanders, Anti-Evangelical Bigot?

In case you missed it the first time… John examined “The End of Silence” — both in Shusaku Endo’s original novel and Martin Scorsese’s recent cinematic version.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez

1. 10 Things Christians Get Wrong About Feminism
2. Still Searching for Christian America
3. Is Complementarian Theology Abusive to Women?

In case you missed it the first time… In “Fairness for All,” Kristin pushed back against culture warring and asked if American Christians might not answer “A Call for Culture Peacemakers.”

Philip Jenkins

1. The Forgotten History of “Christian” Political Activism
2. Spreading the Faith: Daniel Syndrome
3. Forgetting American Terror: The Christian Front

In case you missed it the first time… A DNA test prompted Philip to trace the interconnected histories “Of Slavs, Slaves, Vikings, and Genetics.”

Tal Howard

1. Christian Colleges Meet Trump’s America
2. Evangelicals and Christian Unity
3. Jewish-Christian Disputations in the Middle Ages

In case you missed it the first time… Back in January Tal started his current series by asking, “When did ‘Interreligious Dialogue’ begin?”

Guest bloggers

1. Betsy DeVos, Sandra Bullock, and the Historical Cost of School Choice (Rusty Hawkins)
2. A Report from the Women’s March on Washington (Mandy McMichael)
3. “What do Eastern Orthodox Christians believe about…?” (Matt Miller)

In case you missed it the first time… Noel Stringham shared “Peace I leave with you,” a lovely reflection on “Christianity, History, and Nuer Culture in South Sudan.”

If you did miss some of these, or if you’re a newer reader… You can follow along by subscribing to our Patheos newsletter (look for the widget on the right side of this page), liking us on Facebook, or following us on Twitter.

Thanks for reading and commenting, have a pleasant weekend, and we’ll see you next week to start the second half of 2017!