With the recent passing of Pope Francis, there has been a lot of discussion about the pope’s legacy. Described by NPR as “one of the most popular popes in decades” as well as “a controversial figure,” Pope Francis was willing to wade into controversial topics and deliver messages that pushed against political figures and topics. Posts from my Anxious Bench colleagues Philip Jenkins (After Francis: What’s Next in the Vatican, Who Will Be The Next Pope?, and Popes, Prophecies, and... Read more
I agreed to interview Aimee Byrd about her new book, Saving Face: Finding Myself, God, and One Another Outside a Defaced Church (Zondervan Reflective, 2025) with the caveat that my training is as a historian, not as a clergyperson or counselor. I offer that same caveat here. And that’s because little about Byrd’s book is historical, outside of references to her own personal experiences. That’s not to say it’s not academic—some of it is, with references to C.S. Lewis, Richard... Read more
Prince Gallitzin State Park is a beautiful site in west-central Pennsylvania, best known for a popular lake. The Russian or otherwise Slavic name is intriguing. Plenty of Slavic migrants came to western Pennsylvania through the years, but very few of them, surely, were princes. In fact, the story of this particular prince throws a great deal of light on the early religious history of the frontier, and specifically of the Catholic church. Prince Gallitzin himself might actually be a saint... Read more
At special times of the year such as Easter, I always like to offer seasonally appropriate posts. That is what I will be doing again this year, but if the season is suitable, the topic is… maybe not so much. In fact, I want to report on a great anti-Easter poem, which still has the power to surprise and provoke. I claim no great discoveries here, but the work in question is nothing like as well-known as it should be,... Read more
Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on July 21, 2021. I spent last week researching in the Southern Baptist Convention archives, located within the denomination’s headquarters in downtown Nashville, TN. It was a bit surreal because I had been blogging about the SBC for the last two months (here and here), and then finally found myself actually there on the ground for the first time. The archives are beautifully maintained, with friendly staff, and open to all researchers. I was... Read more
Pope Francis’s Evangelical Critics Twenty years ago, when Pope John Paul II died, American evangelicals mourned his passing as though they had lost one of their staunchest allies and most beloved friends. John Paul II was “the most influential voice for morality and peace in the world during the last 100 years,” Billy Graham declared in 2005. Today’s reactions to Pope Francis’s death from conservative American evangelicals are a real contrast to that sentiment. The Gospel Coalition (TGC) published a... Read more
Choosing Barabbas I’ve been intermittently listening to Bach’s Matthäuspassion performed by the Tölz Boys’ Choir over the last week. (You can watch it here.) It’s a sweeping and highly emotional oratorio, narrating the passion events of Matthew 26 and 27 from Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament, along with theological and devotional commentary in the form of solos. As I listened and read along, I was struck by one section during the public trial of Jesus. In German, it’s... Read more
Last time I wrote about the amazing growth of Catholic populations in Africa, to the point that they would very soon outnumber European believers. But beyond the raw fact of numbers, the African church has many features that distinguish it sharply from our familiar Western concepts. Each, to varying degrees, affects how those growing numbers will reshape the larger church as the years go by. I won’t go into any great detail here, as I have regularly discussed these topics... Read more
After a dozen years, I bid farewell to the Anxious Bench. Read more
What is Nicaea about? Most modern accounts will focus on the theological debate between Arius and Alexander of Alexandria, but the nature of the controversy before, during, and after Nicaea is obscure. Thus, some scholars argue Nicaea is about the doctrine of God, others soteriology, and others think it has nothing to do with theology at all. While prioritizing a certain doctrine or focus is necessary in all historical accounts, it is striking how our narratives shape how we treat... Read more
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