American Religion and Freemasonry

Last updated on: May 14, 2014 at 10:35 am By johnturner

Freemasonry is a tricky topic for historians of American religion, both in terms of classification and in terms of content. Masonry confuses, in part because of the many changes within its ranks over the course of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Still, good books exist on the topic, such as Stephen Bullock’s Revolutionary Brotherhood. David Hackett’s recently published That Religion in Which All Men Agree: Freemasonry in American Culture is a very helpful guide to those who still find... Read more

Where the Wind Leads

Last updated on: May 16, 2014 at 11:48 am By Miles Mullin

For the May 1st-15th Patheos Book Club In early 1979, Hoa Chung had a dream. Although plans were coming together to leave communist-ruled Vietnam for a better life elsewhere, this dream was not a daydream of hope, but a vivid sleeping-dream. In it, her husband Hoa and their eight children fell dead in the middle of a thriving Vietnamese market. Then, they were resurrected one-by-one through the ministrations of “a man dressed in a white robe, with long brown hair... Read more

Should Christians Date Online?

Last updated on: May 12, 2014 at 4:16 pm By Thomas Kidd

Our friend (and one of the fabulous Baylor history Ph.D. students) Paul Putz has a fascinating piece over at the Religion and Politics blog on the deep history of Christian matchmaking in America. After discussing the intriguing “matrimonial bureau” of Omaha pastor Charles Savidge in the early 20th century, Putz reflects on the contemporary relevance and challenges of online dating sites such as ChristianMingle. Putz says that Given the reality of our increasingly online, increasingly digital world, Christian niche dating sites serve... Read more

Nihilism and “The Book of Mormon”

Last updated on: May 12, 2014 at 7:58 am By Thomas Albert Howard

I refer to the blockbuster musical, not the sacred book of Mormons. Recently, I took a group of (mostly evangelical) students at Gordon College to see the play when it was staged in Boston. (No parents have complained—not yet anyway!) Much has already been written about the play. Still, after watching it, I could not withhold my two-cents. At many levels, it’s breathtakingly well done. The dances, the music, the set, the lighting, the dialogue, the wit brought the staid... Read more

LIVING THROUGH A REVOLUTION

Last updated on: May 9, 2014 at 7:25 am By Philip Jenkins

I was reading a fictional account in which a gay man asks a pastor, a long-time friend, to perform his same-sex wedding. Although the pastor tries to keep his cool, the prospect appalls him. He warns that if this event did occur, he would avert his eyes in disgust if the two men kissed in front of him. He would be “totally grossed out.” Ultimately he decides that he cannot perform the wedding, mainly because “I’m a little worried about... Read more

Anniversary Penance

Last updated on: May 7, 2014 at 6:07 pm By johnturner

This will not be Patheos’s best anniversary post. For starters, I just double-checked the guidelines and now see that anniversary posts were supposed to reach you between May 5 and May 7. I am late. Moreover, I have not prepared a video to upload for you to enjoy. This, however, is perhaps a blessing. A few years ago, I made a series of podcasts for a “blended” U.S. History survey course. I did not think the format improved me. Moreover,... Read more

Five from One: Happy Anniversary Patheos

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 9:24 am By Miles Mullin

As Tommy Kidd noted yesterday, we are in the middle of Patheos’ five-year-anniversary celebration. Congratulations to Patheos for successfully “hosting the conversation on faith” for the past half-decade. In my estimation, they have done a great job! For my part, this month marks a full year that I have had the privilege of writing for The Anxious Bench on the Patheos Evangelical Channel. As a result, I do not have a deep well of blog posts from which to draw... Read more

Five Year Anniversary for Patheos and the Best of My Posts

Last updated on: May 2, 2014 at 11:52 am By Thomas Kidd

Congratulations to Patheos on its five-year anniversary! As I note in the brief video here, I have written for Patheos for several years, first as a columnist, then as a blogger and coordinator for the Anxious Bench group historians’ blog. Here’s some of my best posts during my time writing for Patheos: “Ask Jesus into Your Heart”: A History of the Sinner’s Prayer “If potential converts (children or adults) are so unfamiliar with basic Bible doctrine that they can understand... Read more

BY SCHISMS RENT ASUNDER

Last updated on: January 8, 2014 at 10:50 am By Philip Jenkins

Over the past twenty years, I have taught an introductory World Religions survey course. Obviously, it’s difficult to say too much about these diverse traditions in such a limited time, but I usually find myself stressing one theme in particular. As you look at the different faiths, they have many divisions and competing schools of thought, and the issues that cause these splits and schisms look quite similar across faiths. Oddly, one much studied parallel is between Roman Catholic Christianity... Read more

The Good Lord Bird

Last updated on: April 30, 2014 at 4:23 pm By johnturner

My series on visions will resume in a few weeks. In the meantime, it’s worth noting that a film involving a young boy’s near-death vision of heaven and Jesus has become an unexpected hit. Right now, however, I’ve just finished reading The Good Lord Bird, last year’s National Book Award winning novel about John Brown’s fight against slavery. John Brown is one of my favorite subjects (see this post) in the history of American religion and the subject of many... Read more