Christian Apocrypha and Alternative Scriptures

Last updated on: November 27, 2017 at 11:42 am By Philip Jenkins

At the recent meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Boston, I spoke on a panel that reviewed the major new collection edited by Tony Burke and Brent Landau, New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 2016). These were my remarks. I make two statements that might sound contradictory. First, the praise. This book is a wonderful treasure house. Despite all the difficulties of coordinating and marshaling so many different contributions, it maintains... Read more

Warlords, War-bands, and Saints

Last updated on: November 25, 2017 at 5:11 am By Philip Jenkins

Last time, I talked about the collapse of the old Roman order in Britain in the fifth century, and what we can reliably say about such an obscure period with so few written sources. (Although it is not a fashionable term, I do use the concept of the Dark Age, properly defined). For historians of Christianity, this is a matter of some moment because out of this world comes the whole world of the Celtic church of Britain and Ireland,... Read more

Thanksgiving, 1676

Last updated on: November 27, 2017 at 12:47 am By johnturner

In 1676, the residents of Plymouth feasted not on turkey and cranberries, but on the severed head of their enemy. The government of New Plymouth asked the colony’s churches to keep August 17 as a day of thanksgiving. The day followed on the heels of many days of “humiliation,” on which colonists had fasted and prayed that God would forgive them for their sins that had provoked God to punish them with war and sickness. For much of the prior... Read more

“Take an Indian to Lunch”

Last updated on: November 27, 2017 at 10:13 am By David Swartz

In “Take an Indian to Lunch,” Freberg sings about an early Puritan politician who strategically takes an Indian out to eat in order to secure the Native American vote. Read more

Lincoln’s Thanksgiving

Last updated on: November 22, 2017 at 12:47 pm By Chris Gehrz

Thanksgiving started in 1863 with Abraham Lincoln, who urged not just gratitude but humility and empathy on a nation in the midst of civil war. Read more

A Liturgy for Thanksgiving

Last updated on: November 22, 2017 at 10:11 am By Agnes Howard

There is enough fixity to the Thanksgiving menu to require a certain order in order to make it turn out right. Read more

A Lost Century, and a Slipped Date

Last updated on: November 17, 2017 at 7:47 am By Philip Jenkins

I have posted often at this site on the subject of the “Dark Ages,” or post-Roman era, and specifically as it affected the British Isles following the Fall of Rome. (And yes, I do accept and use the concept of Dark Ages, and have justified my use of the term at some length). The era has multiple appeal for historians, not least because of the whole Arthurian myth, and the relation between history and legend; but also the fate of... Read more

Christian Scholarship, For Such a Time as This

Last updated on: November 16, 2017 at 2:32 pm By Kristin Du Mez

I’ve got to be honest. There was a time, not long ago, when I had become weary of conversations about “Christian scholarship.” These conversations, it seemed to me, had become stale, and sometimes took the place of actually doing scholarship, Christian or otherwise. Recently, however, I’ve found myself reconsidering the idea of Christian scholarship. I’m not entirely sure what’s changed. Perhaps I’m just older (yes) and wiser (maybe). Or perhaps our historical moment demands that we ask old questions in... Read more

A Serious Proposal for Academic Conferences: Ban Harvey Weinsteins

Last updated on: November 15, 2017 at 3:44 pm By Beth Allison Barr

It was during a major academic conference. A male colleague alerted me that a female graduate student had left the reception early. A fellow conference attendee had cornered her and began making sexually inappropriate advances—both physical and verbal. Luckily one of her male friends realized what was happening and intervened so that she could escape. When I checked on the graduate student to see if she was okay, her response saddened me. “Oh yes- that,” she said, “I’m fine…Not the first... Read more

Seeking Truth in a World “With Devils Filled”

Last updated on: November 13, 2017 at 11:10 pm By Chris Gehrz

Chris ponders the intersection of higher education with a topic to which he rarely gives much thought: spiritual warfare. Read more

What did Jesus do for Jairus' daughter?