I love working with primary sources. I love collecting primary sources. On my current book project, Our God Is an Awesome Brand (Brazos, 2027), I have had the pleasure of collecting and preserving a handful of books (some pictured below). When I first started collecting antiquarian sources, I didn’t really know a whole lot about what I was getting into. Fortunately, one of my mentors, Ken Minkema, took a half-hour to chat with me about talking, meeting with, and purchasing... Read more
“I sat in my car and cried for ten minutes before driving home.” That’s what a student in my class said while recounting their time at the Baptist church down the road from her house. They’d attended a worship service as part of an assignment for my class. Students were meant to observe a Christian worship setting in a tradition unfamiliar to them. Most of my students are from mainline traditions, so many of them ended up attending Catholic masses,... Read more
In 1932, Louis Brandeis offered a brilliant justification for American federalism when he remarked that the states are the “laboratories of democracy.” The states can try things out, and if they work, they are adopted on the national stage, and they become so obvious and commonplace that people forget they ever originated at regional level. If they don’t work, not much is lost. I want to offer an analogy, that I coined back in 2000 in my book Mystics and... Read more
Since its inception, the ongoing Iran conflict has been awash in religious rhetoric. Secretary of War Hegseth recently closed a press conference by quoting Psalm 144, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,” and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation reported that over 200 service members submitted complaints about the overt religious rhetoric being used by superiors. One officer recalled that he was told that “ President Trump has been anointed... Read more
Amidst writing this post, I had to take a break to sweep and mop the floors of my home. A simple and easy task, really, but one that seemed to take away from the important work of reading and writing—an interruption that our modern culture tells us we should resent or avoid. Our world, accordingly, is becoming increasingly effective at removing the ‘menial’ for the sake of the ‘important’: we have ‘smart’ vacuums to clean the floors for us, dishwashers... Read more
The solemn procession began late one February evening. The soft tones of Gregorian chant guided the faithful down a long, darkened hallway as outside, the wind howled and the rain slanted against the windows. The young boy leading the procession carried a carefully-folded banner in his arms, his posture erect as befitted the ritual. Turning left, he stepped into a dimly lit room, against whose large glass window the rain pelted and the wind moaned to be let in. Sliding... Read more
I have written in the past about how invaluable cartoons and caricatures can be for historical sources, and as teaching materials. In my current project, on 1890s America, I have been using one example that could almost spin out into a book in its own right, if explicated properly, or it could just as well supply the draft for a decent course on the history of religion. It is so rich. My post also presents a plea for help in... Read more
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. Psalms 46:5 In one of the first episodes of the show Park & Recreation, the earnest Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) describes the joys of the annual park Easter egg hunt sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, while many children search for the eggs in the background. Unfortunately, for Leslie and the kids, her assistant... Read more
Before jumping into this piece, I want to make an acknowledgement. First, Professor Sutton has a new and well-regarded book expanding his argument from the article I discuss here. It just came out, and I have begun reading it. I’m quite excited to engage further. He is an emminently readable and remarkable cogent scholar. Putting an entire history of American/Christian history in a mere 600 pages is a feat worth praising, all its own. I plan to finish the book... Read more
Recently I have given talks on wisdom at my own institution (Valparaiso University) and at Hillsdale College. In those talks I explored texts and images of wisdom from both the Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic traditions. The theme appears in many places—icons, theological treatises, hymns, and churches dedicated to Holy Wisdom. Yet one image in particular captured my attention: the Marian artistic motif known as the “Seat of Wisdom” or “Throne of Wisdom” (Sedes Sapientiae in Latin). This motif should... Read more
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