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August 2024

August 10, 2024
Rachel Dobkin interviewed me in May for a Newsweek article that published this past Sunday...
August 09, 2024
I love the story of an underdog. I find myself drawn to histories and narratives...
August 08, 2024
My last post explored how America’s imperial expansion reshaped its attitude to other religions, which...
August 06, 2024
Summer for many academics means visiting archives or writing, and I’m certainly not an exception...
August 05, 2024
A couple of weeks ago, browsing books in a thrift store (one of my favorite...
August 02, 2024
A gecko popped its head over the open window to peer at us, its bright...
August 01, 2024
Empires affect religions and religious life in many ways, often unintentional, and the American empire...

July 2024

July 31, 2024
Outrage aptly describes the evangelical response to the Paris Olympic Opening Ceremonies this past week....
July 30, 2024
In October 1962, the New York Times ran an article entitled “U.S. Negro Baptist Hails...
July 29, 2024
A series of overlapping internal crises and a steep decline in church membership over the...
July 25, 2024
I have been working on the religious dimensions of American empire, and particularly some of...
July 24, 2024
This summer three theologically conservative Protestant denominations held their annual conventions. All three made news...
July 23, 2024
This blog post is reposted from Current: Now that he is the Republican vice presidential nominee,...
July 22, 2024
  From an assassination attempt on a former president to the suspended campaign of a...
July 19, 2024
I’m old enough to remember going to Sunday evening services at my Baptist church growing...
July 18, 2024
I’m delighted to announce the publication of my new book, Kingdoms of This World: How...
July 17, 2024
Whatever else might be true of the gendered portrayals in humanitarian rescue narratives, it seems...
July 16, 2024
In 362, Emperor Julian effectively banned Christians from teaching pagan texts, such as Homer’s Iliad...
July 11, 2024
I have been working on the topic of empires and their religious dimensions, and my...
July 10, 2024
"People without hope not only don’t write novels, but what is more to the point,...
July 09, 2024
This is my first piece as a regular columnist for the Anxious Bench,  and I'm...
July 08, 2024
Almost anything by Robert Wilken is worth reading. I have benefitted immensely from his The...
July 05, 2024
I was recently on a trip where we visited many Buddhist and Hindu temples. None...
July 04, 2024
A vast amount of coverage presently discusses the condition of Joe Biden and his likely...
July 02, 2024
Welcome back to the Anxious Bench Dr. Katherine Cooper Wyma! Dr. Wyma is an Associate...
July 01, 2024
Last month, I traveled to Richmond for the Presbyterian Church in America’s General Assembly. Otis...

June 2024

June 29, 2024
A staggering array of human hands across continents and generations created the tradition of sacred...
June 27, 2024
Around the year 200, Bishop Palut was an important leader of the church in Syria....
June 26, 2024
I am delighted to share this summer-themed guest post on religion and celebrity in the...
June 25, 2024
The presidential election of 1976 presented the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) with a...
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