God and the 2016 Presidential Debates

Last updated on: September 28, 2016 at 5:52 pm By johnturner

Four years ago, I wrote a post on “God and the Presidential Debates” after the first round between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The substance of that post follows here, after a brief update. God, Christianity, and religion were almost entirely absent from this week’s first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I thought Clinton might work in a reference to her Methodist faith, about which I thought she spoke very effectively at the Democratic National Convention. I expected... Read more

Hey White Evangelicals, Welcome to Anabaptism

Last updated on: September 29, 2016 at 10:07 am By David Swartz

After centuries of relying on sky-high Amish birthrates for church growth, Anabaptism has exploded in just several months. The surprising converts include a lot of conservative white evangelicals who are not known for their pacifism, simple living, or belief in the separation of church and state. Nonetheless, many are suddenly preaching the limits of partisan politics. There are many reasons why white evangelicals find this crop of candidates so unappealing. Those who identity with the Republican Party cite Clinton’s pro-choice... Read more

Beyond Books: The “Head of Christ”

Last updated on: September 25, 2016 at 3:20 pm By Chris Gehrz

The history of the most iconic image of Jesus in American culture — and why it points to an imbalance in the religious influence we attribute to books vs. material culture. Read more

The Religious Revolution of the 1970s: The Case of Israel

Last updated on: September 25, 2016 at 6:51 am By Philip Jenkins

I have been posting about the aggressive revival of religious politics during the mid-1970s, and suggested parallels between events in the United States and many other nations around the world in the very same years. Specifically, I offered a model for what was happening at this time, and which had led to discontent being expressed in those particular religious forms. I particularly stressed the after-effects of the 1973-75 economic crisis. The nation of Israel offers important analogies to US conditions... Read more

The 1970s and the Revenge of God

Last updated on: September 20, 2016 at 6:50 am By Philip Jenkins

In my last blogpost, I discussed the political and cultural transformations of the 1970s, a global shift not just to conservatism but particularly to religious traditionalism. In different forms, we see such a pattern in the US, but also in countries like Israel, Iran and India, and across the Islamic world. In the words of Gilles Kepel, these were the years of “The Revenge of God.” Academics, no less than policy makers, struggled to understand the new reality. In his... Read more

An Open Letter to the ESV Translation Committee

Last updated on: September 22, 2016 at 8:48 am By Kristin Du Mez

I’m not a biblical translator, or even a biblical scholar. I’m a historian. As a historian, I was intrigued when I heard the news that “the Permanent Text of the ESV Bible” had been released. (The English Standard Version, for those not in the know, is an “essentially literal” translation of the Revised Standard Version.) I confess that it seemed a bit audacious to me, this presumption that perfection had been achieved. I was so impressed, in fact, that I... Read more

Burning Witches in Medieval Europe?

Last updated on: September 21, 2016 at 2:19 am By Beth Allison Barr

Kilkenny lies deep in southern Ireland. Its history lies just as deep in the medieval past. The thirteenth-century cathedral of St. Canice stands next to a 9th-century monastic tower; a castle still sits on the site of William Marshall’s 12th-century Norman foundations; and a fourteenth-century inn, Kyteler’s Inn, still operates in the old town. The inn is more than a reminder of the medieval past, however. It stands sentinel to an infamous medieval event: the first witch burning in Europe. Robin... Read more

Beyond Books: “Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest”

Last updated on: September 19, 2016 at 5:16 pm By Chris Gehrz

Chris Gehrz continues his series on types of Christian writing other than books by reflecting on table graces like "Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest" Read more

Counting Down to the Reformation at 500

Last updated on: September 18, 2016 at 11:38 pm By Thomas Albert Howard

There’s an African proverb, I am told, that goes like this: “If I don’t beat my own drum, who will?” In this spirit, permit me to make known to Anxious-Bench readers two publications of mine. The first is recently out; the second will be out in a matter of weeks. It has been a delight working with Oxford University Press on both of them. The first is an edited book with Mark Noll, entitled Protestantism after 500 Years. Here is... Read more

The Anxious Bench at the Conference on Faith and History

Last updated on: September 16, 2016 at 3:15 pm By Chris Gehrz

Where you can hear Anxious Bench contributors at next month's 30th biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History Read more