Five American Religious History Books Every Evangelical Minister Should Read

Last updated on: January 17, 2015 at 4:53 pm By Miles Mullin

Traditionally, summer is the time for reading lists. In honor of that tradition, I present the following post. Among Anxious Bench authors, I am a bit of an anomaly. My colleagues on the blog–Agnes Howard, Tal Howard, Thomas Kidd, Philip Jenkins, David Swartz, and John Turner–all hold positions in history departments. I teach in a theological seminary, something that brings unique rewards but also concomitant challenges. Like all professors, I face the challenge of assigning books that will pique and... Read more

Phillis Wheatley and the Evangelical Anti-Slavery Movement

Last updated on: June 16, 2014 at 9:59 am By Thomas Kidd

When the evangelical poet Phillis Wheatley published an pamphlet-length elegy on George Whitefield upon the great itinerant’s death in 1770, she gained renown as the first published African American woman in history. She was still a slave in Boston at the time, and (perhaps predictably, if she was going to be published) there were only glimmers of anti-slavery sentiment in the elegy. Whitefield himself died a slave owner, and did not free his slaves upon his death. Wheatley, however, focused... Read more

FREEMASONS AND THE NEW AGE

Last updated on: June 16, 2014 at 11:37 am By Philip Jenkins

I posted recently on the importance of Freemasons in Anglo-American history – political, cultural and religious. Masonry had a substantial influence on mainstream churches, especially in what we call mainline denominations. But its impact was all the more obvious among more marginal groups, and in new religious movements. When we look at America’s esoteric and mystical movements, its New Agers and its experimental religions, not much makes sense without those core Masonic ideas and structures. As John Turner notes, we... Read more

MACHEN’S TERROR

Last updated on: June 17, 2014 at 8:28 am By Philip Jenkins

I recently published the book The Great and Holy War, about the supernatural dimensions of the First World War. In connection with that project, I have posted on some of the major books of that era, including works by George Moore and H. G. Wells. I am arguing that the war’s astonishing violence inspired both religious hopes and apocalyptic nightmares. We see similar themes in another powerful book of that era, The Terror, by the Welsh fantasy horror writer Arthur... Read more

Evangelicals Not Welcome

Last updated on: June 12, 2014 at 3:52 am By johnturner

It’s been a long time since most public and private universities and colleges in the United States desired the active presence of evangelical Christians in their midst. After the YMCA/YWCA and the Student Volunteer Movement backed away from their evangelical roots, groups such as Inter-Varsity, the Navigators, and Campus Crusade for Christ filled the vacuum. While some mainline Protestant ministries shrank in the wake of the sixties cultural revolution, evangelicals demonstrated new visibility and growth on many campuses. As I... Read more

Slow Church: A Report from the Trenches

Last updated on: June 11, 2014 at 3:15 pm By David Swartz

As an admirer of the Englewood Review of Books, I have been anticipating the release of Slow Church. Now that it’s in my hands, I’m happy to report that it doesn’t disappoint. I am thoroughly convinced by the book’s critique and vision. I’ll leave the close outlining of the book’s contents—on ethics, ecology, and economy—to others who have already done so. Instead, I want to offer a report on the book’s potential audience from my small corner of the world:... Read more

Anti-Catholicism: The Defining Religious Principle of Early America?

Last updated on: June 9, 2014 at 1:25 pm By Thomas Kidd

I have been reading Owen Stanwood’s excellent book The Empire Reformed: English America in the Age of the Glorious Revolution, which has taken me back to my own doctoral research and first book (now a cult classic!) The Protestant Interest: New England after Puritanism. Stanwood shows just how much weight “anti-popery” carried in early English America, and how it framed discussions of the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1689, in which the Catholic King James II was booted out in favor of Protestant monarchs... Read more

What’s Right with (Christian) Higher Education

Last updated on: June 8, 2014 at 11:21 pm By Thomas Albert Howard

Many things are wrong with higher education today, to be sure. But let’s not overlook the bright spots. One of these is the Lilly Fellows Program in the Humanities and the Arts seated at Valparaiso University. (Full disclosure: I was a postdoctoral fellow at this program from 1997 to 1999). I write about it now because its guiding light, Mark Schwehn, has recently stepped down as Provost of Valparaiso. His book Exiles from Eden: Religion and the Academic Vocation in... Read more

A Primer on the Southern Baptist Convention, Part 2

Last updated on: January 17, 2015 at 5:21 pm By Miles Mullin

From the Archive In light of the upcoming annual meeting of the largest (for now) Protestant denominations taking place in Baltimore, MD next week, it seemed appropriate to re-run my two-part series from last summer, “A Primer on the Southern Baptist Convention.” This is the second part. The first part ran Wednesday, June 4th. Relevant updates and emendations have been made. They are indicated by italics. Both a zealous commitment to congregational autonomy and a strong impulse towards cooperative ministry underlie the organizational... Read more

THE FOUR HORSEMEN

Last updated on: May 11, 2014 at 6:58 pm By Philip Jenkins

Following on from my book The Great and Holy War, I have been working on the religious and apocalyptic aspects of the First World War, and have recently posted on some major popular culture items from that time. I find myself concentrating on 1916, the year of Mr Britling Sees It Through and The Brook Kerith. The religious upsurge of that year when we consider the massively rising casualties, and the seemingly endless nature of the struggle. Barring divine intervention,... Read more