Teaching Global Christian History

Last updated on: March 19, 2020 at 6:19 am By Philip Jenkins

Through my decade or so at Baylor, I have on several occasions offered my graduate course on Global/World Christianity, and I am doing it again presently (albeit with some unexpected difficulties now we are starting to teach remotely and on line!). In some ways, this Global topic has become a lot more difficult, as the available literature has grown so dramatically during the present century, and the range of debates and issues has expanded accordingly. No one course, seriously, can... Read more

A Tale of Three Kates: Authors, Wives, and the Precarity of Protestant Women

Last updated on: March 18, 2020 at 9:32 am By Beth Allison Barr

Today we welcome Katherine Goodwin to the Anxious Bench. Katherine is a PhD student in the History department at Baylor University. Her research focuses on religion and culture in Late Medieval and Early Modern England, especially through the lens of women’s writings. Standing in front of a crowd of hundreds of faithful devotees, the pastor’s wife told her story. A somber and attentive hush fell over the crowd as she spoke. Some had traveled for days just to witness... Read more

About Martin Luther’s Letter on the Plague…

Last updated on: March 16, 2020 at 9:31 pm By Chris Gehrz

As the world responds to a new pandemic, Chris offers some historical and theological context for Martin Luther's 1527 letter, "Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague." Read more

The Pestilence That Walks in Darkness

Last updated on: March 16, 2020 at 10:22 am By Philip Jenkins

In 1874, legendary Baptist leader Charles H. Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers,” published a commentary on Psalm 91, under the title “The Privileges of the Godly.” That psalm famously includes the lines Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence …. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth... Read more

Binge Watching With The Anxious Bench

Last updated on: March 14, 2020 at 8:17 pm By Chris Gehrz

Stuck inside for a few weeks and looking for some binge watching ideas? The Anxious Bench is here to help. Read more

Why We Can’t Have Nice Feminists

Last updated on: March 12, 2020 at 11:04 am By Kristin Du Mez

It’s been a rough couple of weeks to be a feminist. First, there was Elizabeth Warren’s heartbreaking exit from the race, leaving Democrats with two elderly white men standing. Then, there was the release of the Hulu documentary “Hillary.” This one-two punch was especially painful to members of my own demographic: educated white women. Or perhaps I should clarify: educated white women of a certain age. Because age matters in politics. True, it doesn’t seem to factor in when it... Read more

City on a Hill: From John Winthrop to Donald Trump

Last updated on: March 6, 2020 at 4:02 pm By johnturner

I am excited to welcome Abram Van Engen to The Anxious Bench. Van Engen, Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, is the author of City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism. The book begins with a careful examination of what has become the most famous sermon in American history. Then, Van Engen moves from the seventeenth century to the present, examining how many Americans have made use of the Puritan in attempts to define... Read more

How a Globe-Trotting Black Preacher Helped Integrate Billy Graham’s Crusades

Last updated on: March 9, 2020 at 7:39 pm By David Swartz

Howard Jones was surprised by Liberians’ awareness of racial tension in the American South. Read more

What the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Meant for American Churches

Last updated on: March 10, 2020 at 8:50 pm By Chris Gehrz

In the fall of 1918, the influenza pandemic caused cities around the United States to ban public gatherings, including worship services. Chris surveys a variety of Christian responses to the worst public health crisis in American history. Read more

Casualty of Coronavirus: Ecumenism

Last updated on: March 8, 2020 at 7:43 pm By Agnes Howard

Something important got lost this past Leap Year Day. February 29, 2020 was supposed to have been a big day—in church history. Geneva, Switzerland, the international city reformed by John Calvin himself, was to welcome Roman Catholics back into the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre where, since the city adopted religious reform, no Mass had been taken place since the 1530s. Taking cue from another Swiss city, Lausanne, the church was to hold a Catholic Mass in a space long hostile to... Read more