Western Protestants are familiar with the idea of Christianity as a faith of the book, of the word written, read, and proclaimed. Historically, though, a great many Christians have learned their faith through other means, including the visual arts and especially music, and such non-literary forms are very common today in rising churches, in Africa and elsewhere. To get a sense of how such instruction works, I return to the story I told last time, as Anglican cleric Erasmus Saunders... Read more
As the reality of Hillary Clinton’s unexpected defeat sinks in, as pundits jockey to offer the definitive postmortem and journalists attempt to decipher what, precisely, an impending Trump presidency might entail, public focus has largely shifted away from Clinton herself. For nearly four decades Hillary Clinton has found herself at or near the center of American politics—as first lady of Arkansas and then of the nation, as US Senator, two-time presidential contender, and Secretary of State. Until last week, when... Read more
In Eastcheap, near Fenchurch St. in London, stands the medieval church of St. Margaret Pattens. Founded in 1067 and rebuilt by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666, it slowly lost its congregation. It was closed as a parish church in 1952—more than 900 years after opening its doors. St. Margaret Pattens still offers some weekday services to those working around its urban location. It also remains open to passerbys like me, interested in canopied pews and an 18th-century... Read more
While some of my colleagues here have written excellent examples of the genre, I’ve never had much desire to write a biography. In fact, it had been a few years since I’d even read such a book. But then a road trip that included numerous plays of the Hamilton soundtrack convinced me to download the Kindle version of the Ron Chernow biography that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to write a hip-hop musical about America’s first treasury secretary. And now, having just finished one writing project, I... Read more
When religious systems die or collapse, how do their followers carry on? Historically, such a situation is not that uncommon. Imagine a society with an established religion of some kind, based on hierarchical structures and priests, and then, for whatever reason, those structures vanish. In some cases, a new civil and religious order forbids or actively persecutes traditional habits and practices. We might look, for instance, at the fate of Catholics in many European countries following the Reformation; or Christians... Read more
I posted about the autobiography of Quaker pioneer Richard Davies, arguing that this should be read both as a highly informative spiritual text and a prime historical source. Often, the book – the Convincement – reveals the processes by which an educated and curious seventeenth century Christian moved to some radical positions that in some ways seem far ahead of their time. That is especially true of attitudes towards the Bible. Reading Richard Davies sheds light on what at first... Read more
The new Mel Gibson movie Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of a WWII medic named Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who participation in that war exemplifies the Adventist idea of "conscientious cooperation" Read more
My university—located on a relatively conservative campus in the very red state of Kentucky—was subdued this morning. In the run-up to the election, there was little to no public support for Trump. And today numerous students, looking a bit traumatized, are walking into classes with puffy eyes jarred by the unexpected result. None of the models predicted this. Polls suggested an easy Clinton win. The New York Times said that Clinton’s chances of losing were about the same as the... Read more
Whether you want to read more about the 2016 election - or find something to distract you today... Here are some of our most popular posts from the summer and fall. Read more
While I normally enjoy my Tuesday spot in the Anxious Bench rotation, it did leave me with the unenviable responsibility of posting on a particularly fractious Election Day. I thought about doing something as apolitical as possible, but ultimately decided I should address the election in some fashion. So after I cast my absentee ballot a couple weeks ago, I sat down to write an open letter to the only person who deserves to receive such an epistle from me: me.... Read more
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