It’s the Demography, Stupid

Last updated on: February 20, 2020 at 10:59 am By Philip Jenkins

I have blogged quite a lot about the relationship between demographics – specifically, fertility rates – and trends in religion. Roughly, low fertility corresponds to low or declining religiosity, while high fertility societies tend to be actively religious. (See those earlier blogs for a lengthy discussion of the processes at work). It is thus a matter of great moment when, just in the past few years, the United States has moved decisively to become a European-style low fertility society, with... Read more

Sex, Outrage, and American Religion: Miss America’s God

Last updated on: February 10, 2020 at 6:56 pm By Kristin Du Mez

This year’s Super Bowl halftime show sparked outrage among a contingent of American Christians. Although the halftime show is rarely considered a purveyor of American moral values, this year’s performance by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez provoked new levels of opposition. James Dobson denounced the “sexual smorgasbord” on display and rejected any cultural lens—“pole dancing, sex simulation and crotch shots are not a celebration of Latino culture,” he insisted. “They are a celebration of our hypersexualized culture.” Whether or not... Read more

Because We Have Made God Too Small: A Baylor Professor’s Apology to Kaitlin Curtice

Last updated on: February 19, 2020 at 9:54 am By Beth Allison Barr

The chair scraped next to me. It was 2:30 on Friday afternoon—time for our scheduled break. For three years I have been writing every Friday afternoon with a group of faculty women, blocking our calendars and ignoring emails. For three years I break with them for 15 minutes, pulling our chairs into a small circle. For three years we have been working together, encouraging each other and motivating each other, as we all work toward full professor. I confess I... Read more

Seeing Animals: What Ethical Responsibilities Do Humans Have to Other Creatures?

Last updated on: February 18, 2020 at 10:08 am By Chris Gehrz

Chris talks to his colleague Annie Berglund about animal ethics, a topic she explores in a new podcast, Seeing Animals. Read more

The Miraculous Flying House of Loreto

Last updated on: February 15, 2020 at 8:46 am By Philip Jenkins

I am presently teaching a graduate course at Baylor on Global/World Christianity. My aim in such courses is always to learn as well as to teach, and one book I have profited from is by Karin Vélez, in her mind-stretching study of The Miraculous Flying House of Loreto: Spreading Catholicism in the Early Modern World (Princeton University Press, 2018). I chose this as one of my best books of 2019 in the list I do annually for Christian Century. It’s... Read more

How the Virgin of Guadalupe Came to Boalsburg, Pennsylvania

Last updated on: February 15, 2020 at 10:22 am By Philip Jenkins

Look at this figure, and tell me what it is, and where it is. The first question is easy. The second is odd, to the point of being bizarre. It involves some real twists and turns, with curious international and diplomatic angles. The statue is unquestionably the Virgin of Guadalupe, the form of the Virgin uniquely beloved in Mexico. It looks as if it came from a wayside shrine, or a church in Mexico itself, and I think it is... Read more

Speaking with the Dead

Last updated on: February 13, 2020 at 10:27 am By johnturner

Today The Anxious Bench welcomes Erik R. Seeman, Professor of History at the University at Buffalo. Seeman’s publications span many centuries, cultures, and topics, but several of his books analyze the beliefs and rituals that surround death and dying. One of my favorite books in the field of early American history is Seeman’s Death in the New World, which compares the deathways of Native, African, and English cultures. Below Seeman and I discuss his latest book, Speaking with the Dead... Read more

Unholy Spooks

Last updated on: February 10, 2020 at 8:09 pm By David Swartz

The missionaries who spied for the United States Read more

What Does It Mean to Be “Born Again”?

Last updated on: February 10, 2020 at 9:19 pm By Chris Gehrz

According to the General Social Survey, not just evangelicals but growing numbers of Catholics and other Protestants describe themselves as "born again." It's not the first time that Christians have used that language to describe different ideas of conversion. Read more

What Childbirth Reveals

Last updated on: February 15, 2020 at 12:45 pm By Agnes Howard

“I love to look at the work of God. I love to see the work of God.” One might look for the work of God in many places. Onnie Lee Logan, “granny” midwife who delivered thousands of babies around Mobile, Alabama, before the state outlawed her profession, saw the work of God in the birth of a new human. Logan tells her story in a well known oral history and describes delivering babies as a calling. She recounts praying before... Read more