My Trump Syllabus

Last updated on: August 4, 2016 at 7:18 am By Philip Jenkins

I recently found myself on the fringes of an academic controversy. The Chronicle of Higher Education approached me to suggest books for a hypothetical “Trump Syllabus” that they were preparing, Trump 101. Together with many other academics, I duly contributed. The Syllabus itself was, though, bitterly criticized by some for its neglect of major aspects of what they felt to be the core elements of the Trump phenomenon, namely nativism, racism and xenophobia. The Chronicle duly issued a humble apology... Read more

The Black Dog and the Wicker Man

Last updated on: August 5, 2016 at 4:30 am By Philip Jenkins

Last time I described how rogue academics produced a mythology of continuing paganism and human sacrifice in supposedly Christian England, right up to modern times. The main rogue in question was an Egyptologist gone bad by the name of Margaret Murray. Supposedly, there was a continuing tradition of secret underground paganism linked to ancient cults and rituals, committing their misdeeds at the same sacred places, with a central element of human sacrifice. That folklore inspired the 1970s fictional genre of Folk... Read more

Pelican of Mercy

Last updated on: August 3, 2016 at 12:33 pm By johnturner

Whenever I’m in Salt Lake City, I like to stop at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. While at the cathedral last week, I noticed something that will no doubt be common knowledge to students of medieval Christianity but was new to me. In two paintings — on the central mural behind the altar and in one of the stations of the cross — is an image of a pelican with her young chicks. A pamphlet informs that the image symbolizes... Read more

How Activists Claimed Primary Season (for awhile)

Last updated on: August 2, 2016 at 11:16 pm By David Swartz

During the Democratic National Convention, supporters of Bernie Sanders denounced the superdelegate system as rigged. For their part, some Republican Party elites sought to derail Donald Trump’s nomination by changing convention rules to release already-pledged superdelegates to vote against Trump. In the face of seemingly universal denunciations of the superdelegate system, it’s worth considering its history—and its fascinating intersection with 1970s religion. If you think the 2016 superdelegate process was rigged, then conventions in the 1960s and earlier were super-rigged.... Read more

Religion in The Olympics… and The Olympics as Religion

Last updated on: August 26, 2016 at 4:07 pm By Chris Gehrz

Surveying the complicated history of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the modern Olympics, whose founder meant them to represent "humanity's superior religion." Read more

How to Pray for a Presidential Candidate You Don’t Like

Last updated on: August 1, 2016 at 7:16 pm By Agnes Howard

Under current circumstances, praying people might puzzle over how to pray for leaders they do not much like. History affords a range of options, from requesting deliverance from evil rulers, to affirming allegiance to the powers that be whom God ordained, to giving thanks for just and prudent officials. Another provocative possibility comes from invocations of Congregationalist clergymen in America’s early national period. Facing the prospect of opening the nineteenth century with Thomas Jefferson at the helm, they expressed their... Read more

No Room in Wayne Grudem’s World for a Female President

Last updated on: July 31, 2016 at 9:22 am By Beth Allison Barr

In a stunning statement, Wayne Grudem–Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studies at Phoenix Seminary, former professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and co-founder of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood–pledged his wholehearted support of Donald Trump. “[M]y conscience, and my considered moral judgment tell me that I must vote for Donald Trump as the candidate who is most likely to do the most good for the United States of America.” Indeed, he showed us the glowing world that... Read more

Dark Majesty and Folk Horror

Last updated on: July 28, 2016 at 6:32 am By Philip Jenkins

This coming Monday, August 1, marks the medieval feast of Lammas, Loaf-mass, the year’s first harvest festival, and that coincides with one of the great feasts of the ancient Irish calendar, Lughnasa. This also brings me to a curious anniversary, which tells us a little bit about medieval history, and a great deal about the making of modern day mythologies. I’ll be writing several columns on this general topic, which overlaps nicely with Beth Barr’s recent posts at this very... Read more

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, By Their Words

Last updated on: July 30, 2016 at 12:40 pm By Kristin Du Mez

by Katelyn Guichelaar and Kristin Du Mez The national party conventions of the past two weeks have offered us political theatrics, stolen words, and soaring rhetoric. They also provide us with a moment to reflect on the paths each candidate has taken to secure their party’s nomination. More specifically, to consider the words they have employed to peddle their contrasting visions for the nation’s future. Here we do so using the tools of corpus linguistics, the study of spoken or... Read more

Starting Graduate School Well–Some Advice

Last updated on: July 27, 2016 at 11:15 am By Beth Allison Barr

I swam with dolphins last week. It wasn’t planned–they just appeared, a mom and her calf, swimming on our beach early in the morning. The water was clear as glass. It was so clear and so smooth , in fact, that the large dark shadows of their bodies below the surface appeared almost as visible as their fins gliding through the waves. It was several days into our vacation, so my kids had become accustomed to the beach. My daughter was... Read more

Which sea did Moses part during the Exodus?