Missionaries and Modernity

Last updated on: November 7, 2025 at 4:15 pm By Thomas Albert Howard

I am contemplating a new research project tentatively entitled “Missionaries and Modernity: Christian Proclamation in a Colonial and Postcolonial World.” My interest in such a project is at least fivefold. First, I am deeply intrigued by the relationship between religion and European imperialism in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Second, I am equally fascinated by the rise of missiology –what the Germans called Missionswissenschaft–as a branch of theology within the Western academy during the same period. Third, I find... Read more

Longevity and the Good Death

Last updated on: November 14, 2025 at 6:23 pm By Lisa Clark Diller

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It’s a sign of the season of life I’m in that my nightstand and Audible account are both full of books with titles like The Art of Dying Well, Embracing Elderhood, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, Elderhood, Being Mortal, and When Breath Becomes Air. Books on longevity and the defiance of aging such as Young Forever and Super Agers are recommended to me quite often, but I’m not attracted to them. As a historian, I have been conditioned... Read more

What A Lethal Roof Tile Tells Us About Christian Heresy

Last updated on: October 31, 2025 at 11:41 am By Philip Jenkins

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In 379 (or conceivably 380) the Christian bishop Eusebius was martyred in the North Syrian city of Dolikha. That statement might sound totally unsurprising: surely martyrdom was an occupational hazard of early Church leadership? But this particular case has elements that make it truly noteworthy and indeed weird. Understanding the story actually tells us a great deal about how we write that early Christian story, and how we understand heresy. Here is the problem. Eusebius of Samosata was a fervent... Read more

Trondenes Kirke: The Northernmost Medieval Church

Last updated on: October 28, 2025 at 10:51 am By Lynneth Renberg

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It’s a stunning stone church, painted white and towering over the surrounding landscape, with the sparkling waters of the fjord and snow-covered peaks of the mountains behind it. The church is fairly simple in its design: a pointed roof, no bell tower or elaborate façade. But when you consider where this church is and when it was built, it’s incredibly impressive. This is Trondenes Kirke, built in its current form between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. Near the modern town... Read more

Review of Karen Johnson, “Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice”

Last updated on: October 30, 2025 at 1:33 pm By Ansley Quiros

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AB: Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice OK full disclosure: I wrote this post before Daniel Williams posted his wonderful interview with Karen Johnson about her new book. But I’m posting anyway. Apologies for the redundancy, but also it’s telling that both Daniel and I thought her work would be a good fit for the Patheos audience. Get it, read, and join the conversation! … Last month, Karen Johnson, Professor of History at Wheaton College and author of One in Christ:Chicago... Read more

Reading All Hallows on All Hallows Eve

Last updated on: October 29, 2025 at 5:59 am By Philip Jenkins

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I have a strictly seasonal reading recommendation, and one that is highly appropriate for the topic of this blog, in Christian history. If you have any interest in the themes of Halloween – ghosts, horror, and the thin space between worlds – you must read Walter De La Mare’s classic short story All Hallows (1926). You can easily find the story full text at multiple locations. It is a fast read if that is what you are looking for, but... Read more

Karen Johnson on “Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice”

Last updated on: October 26, 2025 at 6:18 pm By Daniel K. Williams

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Karen J. Johnson, a professor of history (and department chair) at Wheaton College, has just published a book about Christians’ struggle for racial justice that is designed (at least in part) for Christians outside of academia. Her earlier book, One in Christ: Chicago Catholics and the Quest for Interracial Justice, is an academic monograph published with a university press. Her new book, Ordinary Heroes of Racial Justice: A History of Christians in Action, is a little different. Published with IVP... Read more

Everyday Evangelical Resistance for My Chicago Neighbors

Last updated on: October 27, 2025 at 8:29 pm By Joey Cochran

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“And who are my neighbors?” (Luke 10:29b) Mea culpa: This article is a combination of long-form and photo essay. Some sections conclude with a series of photos documenting events during the past month. A Real Nightmare It was early October during the federal occupation of Chicago when my wife woke in the middle of the night as she dodged my flailing arms. I was yelling: “No. No. No! Get out of here!” She didn’t really know how to respond. She’d... Read more

Ask of Old Paths: An Interview with Grace Hamman

Last updated on: October 24, 2025 at 9:34 am By Jacob Randolph

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Last month, I had the chance to sit down with Grace Hamman to talk about her new book, Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life ( Zondervan Reflective). This is a timely book for anyone interested in the intersection of medieval spirituality and modern evangelical Christianity, and Grace was a joy to spend time with talking about the weird and wonderful world of the Middle Ages. Note: my interview with Grace has been edited... Read more

Of Fairies, Elves, and the Lost Races Next Door

Last updated on: October 25, 2025 at 6:48 am By Philip Jenkins

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As you will know if you have followed these blogposts through the years, I am a devout follower of Halloween. I am also a keen fan of horror, and hence the book project I am currently pursuing on the history of folk horror. But today’s post is different and, well, weird. I take what might appear to be a popular trope of horror literature, namely the belief in mysterious pre-human races living more or less next door to our modern... Read more

How many disciples did Jesus choose?