The Half-Year in Review

I know it feels like it’s been 2018 a lot longer than six months, but we’re now about halfway through a rather turbulent year. So it’s a good point at which to pause and do two things:

First, we need to thank you all for reading. The Anxious Bench has had about 14% more page views so far in 2018 than we did in the first half of 2017! So whether you’re a long-time reader or a new arrival, know that we’re grateful for the chance to write for you. (And to hear back from you!)

So what has been driving all that traffic? Let’s review some of most-read posts from January-June 2018, starting with our overall Top 10 Most-Read list:

1. Paige Patterson Is My Fault, Too (Beth)
2. On Getting Churches Totally Wrong (Philip)
3. Why Beth Moore’s Letter Makes Me Hopeful (Chris)
4. Falwell vs. Claiborne: A Report from Lynchburg (David)
5. Will Beth Moore Help Save Evangelicalism? (Beth)
6. So, what is going on at Patheos? (Kristin)
7. When Did Evangelicals Start Observing Lent? (Chris)
8. Is There Hope for Evangelical Women? (Beth)
9. The Myth of Biblical Womanhood? (Beth)
10. The Stevens Point Pathway: How the Liberal Arts Will Die at Christian Colleges (Chris)

Then for each of our regular bloggers, 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.

Beth Allison Barr

1. Paige Patterson Is My Fault, Too
2. Will Beth Moore Help Save Evangelicalism?
3. Is There Hope for Evangelical Women?

In case you missed it the first time… Technically, Beth started looking at how certain Pauline texts have been used against women in the last week of December 2017, but you should still go back to the beginning to get into her main series of 2018.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez

1. So, what is going on at Patheos?
2. The Reinvention of “Evangelical” in American History: A Linguistic Analysis
3. Forgiveness or Hypocrisy? Evangelicals, Abuse, and the Witness of Rachael Denhollander

In case you missed it the first time… Kristin marked the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. by thinking about the “unearned suffering” of women in the civil rights movement.

Embed from Getty Images

Chris Gehrz

1. Why Beth Moore’s Letter Makes Me Hopeful
2. When Did Evangelicals Start Observing Lent?
3. The Stevens Point Pathway: How the Liberal Arts Will Die at Christian Colleges

In case you missed it the first time… Writing about religion in the Dakotas and their borderlands was my favorite thing that I’ve done for The Anxious Bench in 2018.

Agnes Howard

1. Does Everything Happen for a Reason?
2. Can Surrogacy Be a Christian Ministry?
3. Does the Truth Set You Free Or Just Make You Less Smart?

In case you missed it the first time… Agnes read a new memoir of an unexpectedly expectant mother in light of the 50th anniversary of a papal encyclical.

Tal Howard

1. Christianity and Other Religions
2. The Best Study-Abroad Program in Christian Higher Ed
3. The Imponderability of the Past

In case you missed it the first time… Tal ushered in this year with a reflection on teaching Dante.

Philip Jenkins

1. On Getting Churches Totally Wrong
2. Slavery, Euphemism, and the New Testament
3. Billy Graham and the Hell Bombs

In case you missed it the first time… Philip considered what a 17th century European novel might teach us about Christianity in contemporary Africa.

Embed from Getty Images

David Swartz

1. Falwell vs. Claiborne: A Report from Lynchburg
2. Cultivating Respectability at Moody Bible Institute
3. Race and Respectability at Moody Bible Institute

In case you missed it the first time… One of my favorite Anxious Bench ledes of all time opens David’s post on elves in Iceland.

John Turner

1. Why Evangelicals Stick with President Trump
2. Foreigners Out!
3. Tom Brady versus Jesus Christ

In case you missed it the first time… John shared a more personal reflection on the legacy of Billy Graham, who died this past February.