Alternative Scriptures: Theosophy and the Esoteric Tradition

Last updated on: June 23, 2017 at 7:10 am By Philip Jenkins

I have been posting about the widespread knowledge of alternative gospels and scriptures that existed in Western culture over a century ago, roughly between 1870 and 1930. Whether we are looking at Gnostic and esoteric views of early Christianity, feminist interpretations of the role of Mary Magdalene, or the influence of Essene doctrine, very few ideas that we might today regard as radically modern and daring were in fact unfamiliar back then. Far from being confined to elite scholars, such... Read more

Bernie Sanders, Anti-Evangelical Bigot?

Last updated on: June 21, 2017 at 11:40 pm By johnturner

Senator Bernie Sanders opposed the nomination of Russell Vought as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget because of the way Vought supported his alma mater in its firing of Larycia Hawkins. Vought wrote the following for The Resurgent: Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned. Sanders declared that Vought’s comments were Islamophobic and therefore made him “really not someone... Read more

This Thai Is Not Like the Others

Last updated on: June 21, 2017 at 8:09 am By David Swartz

My research on the antitrafficking movement in Thailand primarily tracked American Christian networks. As I suspected, the many missionaries and humanitarians I interviewed represented remarkable diversity. Some, horrified by sex trafficking, emoted like the passionate evangelicals they were. Others articulated the structural causes of trafficking with considerable sophistication. Some prescribed spiritual conversion. Others recommended more rescues. Still others suggested preventative measures. As a historical “splitter,” I was inclined to notice considerable heterogeneity in my scholarly subjects. What I did not... Read more

A Brief History of Vacation Bible School

Last updated on: June 22, 2017 at 1:25 pm By Chris Gehrz

Keep in mind that VBS is one of those traditions in American Christianity that is well-established, but not as old as you might think. Read more

Alternative Scriptures: Melville’s “Lost Gnostic Poem”

Last updated on: June 19, 2017 at 8:45 am By Philip Jenkins

In 1891, Herman Melville published his final book, a collection of poems entitled Timoleon. I want to focus on one of these poems, which initially seems quite mysterious. But it can be understood, if we appreciate the prevailing historical views of the time about heresy and sectarian religion. I also want to touch on a theme that I will be exploring in more detail in coming posts, namely the wide-ranging influence of Theosophy in these years. The Melville work in... Read more

Alternative Scriptures: Gustav Holst’s Hymn of Jesus

Last updated on: June 15, 2017 at 2:35 pm By Philip Jenkins

I have been posting about the quite widespread knowledge of alternative and apocryphal scriptural texts in the early twentieth century, long before most non-specialists would assume that this would have been possible. Today’s post concerns an extraordinary example of this phenomenon. The First World War years witnessed a wonderful flowering of music in Great Britain, much of which had a religious content. (Think Edward Elgar, Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams …). It was in 1916 that Sir Hubert Parry set... Read more

Time for Kierkegaard

Last updated on: June 15, 2017 at 8:47 am By Kristin Du Mez

Summer is here. For academics, that means there just might be time to pick up a random book and read it for pleasure. For those of us in American religious history, Heath Carter has just tweeted a handy list of 150 of his favorite books. But as pleasurable as these books are sure to be, sometimes it’s good to read a book without pencil in hand, without a thought as to how it might reframe one’s own research. To that... Read more

Handling Personal Crises in Academic Life

Last updated on: June 14, 2017 at 1:41 am By Beth Allison Barr

On September 19, 2016, I received news so shocking that the world stopped. I was walking across campus when the text came through. For a few seconds I am not sure what happened. I remember the sky flashing blue above me; I remember the sound of falling water from the nearby fountain. I had been walking, but when I could see clearly again, I found myself sitting on a low stone wall. For me, for that moment, the world really... Read more

A Spiritual (But Not Religious) Biography of Charles Lindbergh

Last updated on: July 10, 2017 at 8:08 pm By Chris Gehrz

Chris introduces his next book project: a spiritual (but not religious) biography of Charles A. Lindbergh. Read more

Alternative Scriptures: Finding the First Scrolls

Last updated on: June 11, 2017 at 6:48 am By Philip Jenkins

I began this “Alternative Scriptures” series by noting the discovery of a “Dead Sea Scroll” type manuscript in the Genizah of a Cairo synagogue, in the 1890s. Tracing the probable history of that document tells a fascinating story. This “Zadokite Fragment” originated either at Qumran or another site belonging to the same sect, presumably around the first century BC. It found its way to the Cairo synagogue, among many thousands of other Jewish texts, which ranged in date from about... Read more