How Imperial Wars Drive Modern Religious Revolutions

Last updated on: November 21, 2024 at 7:18 am By Philip Jenkins

My current work concerns the relationship between empires and the making and development of religion. Some of that connection is obvious – think of Christianity growing within the matrix of the Roman Empire, and then spreading worldwide through the missionary work of other later empires. But there are many other forms of influence and impact, and today I will talk about some other very modern patterns that occurred within an American imperial framework. Specifically, I will address the imperial dimensions... Read more

Mothers of the Church: Egeria

Last updated on: November 19, 2024 at 9:16 am By Adam Renberg

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In my first semester of grad school, I took a Latin reading seminar. Surprisingly, we were assigned the Vulgate translation of the Song of Songs to read aloud and translate as a group—not something I would suggest! Let’s just say it led to some awkward moments. Fortunately, my second semester had fewer episodes of embarrassment, but the assigned text held my attention no less. It was a travel account from a fourth-century woman, recounting her steps as she wandered about... Read more

An Election of Silences: A Reflection

Last updated on: November 15, 2024 at 4:57 am By Verónica A. Gutiérrez

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I don’t teach on Tuesdays, so when I called to schedule two long-overdue medical appointments a few weeks ago and both offices had availability on Election Day, November 5, I took them. The early morning air felt heavy with uncertainty as I slipped into my car to make the hour-long trek to Santa Monica, not having changed doctors since moving over the summer. I listened to an audiobook of historical fiction set in the Canadian West to distract myself from... Read more

Informal Empire and the Making of American Religion

Last updated on: November 15, 2024 at 8:43 am By Philip Jenkins

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My current work involves the critical role of empires in making and reshaping the world’s religions. I recently published the book Kingdoms of this World: How Empires Have Made and Remade Religions (Baylor University Press, 2024), and currently I am working on the specifically American aspects of that issue. As you will see from a couple of recent posts at this site, I argue that this imperial dimension is critical for understanding many aspects of the American religious tradition, including... Read more

Gustavo Gutiérrez: Another Hopeful Reflection

Last updated on: November 13, 2024 at 2:29 am By Michael Jimenez

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Just a few months ago the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann died, and I decided to write about his legacy since he had made a big impact on my studies. In many ways he was the posterchild for Post-Holocaust theology and a host of other forms of Christian theological movements in the last few decades including liberation theology. Moltmann refused to let us forget about Auschwitz. But now he is gone. Now another titan of modern theology has also left us.... Read more

A Most Controversial Marriage

Last updated on: November 12, 2024 at 12:01 am By Wyatt Reynolds

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This is an edited version of an essay I wrote that helped form what would become my Master’s thesis at Yale Divinity School on the life of Elias Boudinot. I’ve used a few stories from that thesis on this blog before, but lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about his interracial marriage to Harriet Gold, and decided I would tell y’all the story. “It is through pride & prejudice–that all this clamour has been raised against the Indians.” ~Colonel Benjamin... Read more

What Is the Anxious Bench: A Note from Our Editor

Last updated on: November 9, 2024 at 4:16 pm By Joey Cochran

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People have expressed abundant feelings and analyses over the last week on the interwebs, as a result of the election. There is certainly no shortage of commentary on social, news outlets, substacks, and podcasts. Just prior to the election, I dropped my own passionate plea to get out the vote, indicating my anxieties and sense of urgency regarding the election. Ansley Quiros followed that up with a prayer for the election. Malcolm Foley offered some post-election grounding for Christians engaged... Read more

Faith And Reconciliation After A Horribly Bitter Election

Last updated on: November 6, 2024 at 8:32 am By Philip Jenkins

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Did you hear about the election they just had in the US? It actually got quite a bit of coverage. So is there anything new to say about it? Well, I might have something different to say, because I am working with 20-20 lack-of-foresight. To be precise, I am writing a week before the election, and have no clue which of the two candidates, whom I will call Smith or Jones, is going to win. That gives me a wonderful... Read more

Lord, Give Us A King to Lead Us

Last updated on: November 6, 2024 at 1:10 pm By Malcolm Foley

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Note: These are my thoughts and mine alone. This is also raw, as I’m sure it is for many reading this. I just had to write some words down on it. “Make America Great Again” was a great slogan when Reagan used it and it’s been a great slogan for the years that the Trump campaign has used it as well. It taps into a primal desire of ours: the desire to be great. The desire to dominate rather than... Read more