by Janine Giordano Drake American Christians are big on Christmas pageants that resemble Cinderella Stories. We like to reenact the story of an angel appearing to an innocent and faithful teenager, a young man submitting to his betrothed’s calling from God, and then an angel revealing God’s plan for the world to a bunch of humble shepherds and then a few wise men from far away. We like to imagine that we Christians are all like the shepherds, hardworking ordinary... Read more
Well, this is about as un-seasonal a theme as I can presently muster, but I fear that it is all too topical. Moreover, it raises issues that are going to be agitating us all a great deal in the New Year. In 2016, an American film-maker produced a brilliant case study of a historical campaign of domestic terrorism that was rooted in religious hatred and racial nationalism. I would argue that it remains one of the vanishingly few really fine... Read more
2023 was a great year for books. Admittedly the book I spent the most time with was my own book-in-progress. Thanks to the generosity of the Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers and Baylor University, I have been able to spend this past year working on a manuscript on how Protestant women navigated the Protestant fundamentalist-modernist controversy of the early twentieth century. This hundred-year-old split between theological and social conservatives and liberals contributed to the modern American culture wars, both... Read more
2023 was a year of violence. In addition to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine – a war that pundits said at its outset posed the greatest threat to European stability since 1945 – Israel was plunged into its most protracted and horrific war in decades after Hamas attacked in October. In addition, thousands of people died in a war in Sudan this fall, and a few thousand more have died in intermittent fighting in Ethiopia that followed the... Read more
Christmas is a holiday that celebrates family. This is true for Christians who celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. The nativity scene that Christians display to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ is, at its most basic level, a depiction of a family: the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. And it’s also true for those Americans who celebrate Christmas primarily as a non-religious cultural holiday. In a 2017 Pew study, the vast majority of respondents (82 percent)... Read more
Iowa state House Representative Jon Dunwell (R) has been on a hero’s journey for the past two weeks. The Representative, who is also an ordained minister in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has been confronting Christian nationalism after a display was set up earlier this month in the Capitol building. Dunwell’s stand on X (formerly Twitter), which has generated thousands of comments and over 7 million views, has directly challenged Christian nationalism—the ideology blending white evangelical religious and ethnic norms... Read more
For my post this month, I wanted to revisit my Christmas post from last December. I’m still compelled by the power of this metaphor and the theologians who utilized it to draw closer to the incarnate Christ. I hope it blesses you as well! – JR In Every Heart There Is a Womb: Mary’s Pregnancy and Ours As I’ve been thinking about what to bring to my column this month in preparation for the birth of Christ, two things have... Read more
Over the Christmas season, our churches will be reading the magnificent Prologue to John’s Gospel, which is the foundation of so much of the Christian theology of Incarnation. This tells of the Light, and how “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1.5 RSV, also NIV) or alternatively, “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (KJV). Overcome and comprehended – aren’t those radically different words? Is one wrong? Why do... Read more
In my historical research I try to find a balance between the beautiful and the terrible. This Christmas post, an ode to biblical history and Wesleyan history, focuses on the beautiful. Read more
Devotional literature is everywhere. It might be found on your grandma’s bookshelf, the catalogue of a Christian publisher, or the ‘religious book’ section in your local Walmart. While there might be disparity between the quality of certain devotionals, these works are meant to foster and encourage spiritual discipline, expand our understanding of the biblical text, or simply bring comfort amidst a challenging season. While the format of most modern devotionals is unique, this practice is anything but. Christians have long... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In