Archives

February 2024

February 14, 2024
Last summer was a time of reflection for my academic journey. First, I wrote a...
February 13, 2024
The only answer to modern man’s problems is the good news. At least that’s how...
February 12, 2024
  When I proposed to my fiancée a few years ago, not only was I...
February 09, 2024
As someone who grew up on the Mid-Atlantic Coast, trips to Washington, DC were rites...
February 08, 2024
I publish a lot on quite diverse topics. Through the years, I have devised a...
February 06, 2024
Worship wars. The phrase might bring to mind debates about contemporary or traditional music, or...
February 05, 2024
Last month, many historians of religion gathered in San Francisco for the American Society of...
February 01, 2024
I have been working on the topic of empires, and specifically on their religious dimensions....

January 2024

January 30, 2024
A crisis occurred in Mansfield, Texas, during the fall of 1956. A typical Jim Crow...
January 26, 2024
by Janine Giordano Drake A few weeks ago, as my ELCA Lutheran church was reciting...
January 25, 2024
My forthcoming book Kingdoms of This World: How Empires Have Made and Remade Religions (Baylor...
January 24, 2024
I hail from a very well-traveled family. I spent ages 3 months to two-and-a-half years...
January 23, 2024
As the slow pace of economic recovery left many people discontent, it looked like the...
January 22, 2024
  A blast of arctic air hit much of the United States last week and...
January 19, 2024
In 1602, the Italian painter Caravaggio completed one of the most moving paintings of the...
January 18, 2024
Whatever be historical Christianity, it is not Protestantism. If ever there were a safe truth,...
January 17, 2024
  One of America’s greatest poets and bards, Billy Joel, told us only the good...
January 16, 2024
Christian liturgical practices have remained constant as much as they have changed. As early as...
January 16, 2024
If the last eight years have shown anything, they've shown that the media, academics, religious...
January 13, 2024
Earlier this week I announced my departure from the Anxious Bench. Today, it is my...
January 12, 2024
Guadalupe & the Flower World Prophesy: Did an Ancient Indigenous Tradition Prepare the Americas for...
January 11, 2024
The Civil War and Reconstruction continue to fascinate Americans. Recently, witness the blowback against alleged...
January 10, 2024
Nepotism brought me here. You see, back in summer 2021, as I was just starting...
January 08, 2024
One consolation of spotty education is the opportunity to read texts later in life that...
January 05, 2024
This Christmas holiday I’ve returned to Australia to visit with friends I made during a...
January 04, 2024
Today, I am delighted to welcome a guest blogger, who presents the findings of his...
January 03, 2024
Just as a reminder, if you couldn’t tell from all of my posts last year,...
January 02, 2024
As the calendar turns to another year, commercials and advertisements and media all yell loudly...

December 2023

December 30, 2023
Last year I introduced my “Best Books” column with some strategies for how to read....
December 29, 2023
by Janine Giordano Drake American Christians are big on Christmas pageants that resemble Cinderella Stories. ...
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