The history of failure has always inspired me. My own dissertation was written on the failure of the Catholic missionary efforts in England in the 17th century. Maybe it is my kneejerk reaction to the prosperity gospel or being raised in a tradition that traced its roots to the Radical Reformation rather than the Magisterial, state-based Protestant Reformation. In either case, the history of lost causes, the failure of efforts worked for and sacrificed for is a crucial element in... Read more
If you look at the list of books I have published through the years, you will see a lot of topics that might seem out of the way – cults, drugs, child abuse, Satanism, pornography, terrorism, and more. What is going on here? Actually, this work is a lot less random and indiscriminate (and sensational) than it might initially appear. As I remarked in my last post, my writing through the years falls into a couple of broad categories. There... Read more
Let me review my last couple of posts. First, I discussed the growing attention among historians toward the importance of religion (particularly forms of Christianity) for US Latino/as. Second, I focused on the popularity of C.S. Lewis and how it has grown since the start of the postwar generation, showing no signs of receding. In this post I would like to reference a passing academic phenomenon that is surprising since, according to my last posts, religion has been and remains... Read more
Maybe let’s just all be a little better about recycling. Also really really listening to each other, and maybe being less judgmental and more forgiving but, also, owning up to our mistakes and being open to changing our own minds. Lead with our Understanding. You know: just being nice to each other. For once. And I’m talking about Everybody. (Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Everybody, p. 54) So concludes Everybody, the modern adaptation of the medieval morality play Everyman, written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins... Read more
Faithful Learning in Different Institutional Contexts: A Conversation with Allie Roberts Lopez We have been having conversations within the Anxious Bench–conversations that will hopefully continue at the Conference on Faith and History in October–about doing religious history in various educational settings. How does teaching American religions change (or not) at a private college vs. a confessional college/seminary vs. a public university? What about personal affiliation/creedal/behavioral standards? Today I’m talking through some of these issues with Allie Lopez, a graduate student... Read more
There are great magisterial scholars who plan out vast multi-volume series on grand topics. Then there are people like me who write a lot, but only in retrospect do they get a sense of what they have really been up to all these years. To that extent, this post is about me, but maybe it applies to plenty of other authors who only in hindsight see the literary wood for the trees. And in my own case, it massively helps... Read more
Few things challenge our integrity or our comfort, like being called to express our opinion on an issue where we know we have trusted friends or colleagues or family members on both sides—and in the same room! We are caught in the middle. Moments like this take us off guard at the family dinner table, or at a church committee meeting, or in a casual drinking-fountain conversation at work. Furthermore, they seem to come more often these days. After all,... Read more
Recently, I wrote a book about poetry. I never intended to. Most of my writing and research involves historical works on the Pilgrims and Puritans, where I feel quite comfortable and where I aim to keep writing. Yet for the past several years, I have been doing something a little strange: I teach poetry at church. I have always loved poetry, which I know statistically makes me a little weird. Most people don’t read poems. Biographies? Yes. Memoirs: definitely. Novels,... Read more
Much of my work through the years has involved using popular culture as a vehicle for understanding American social attitudes, whether we are looking at religion and cults, or politics and race. This post is a comment on a major resource there that we perhaps tend to forget. That comment might be unfair, in the sense that this resource might be really well known to others, but I hope some might find this useful. In short – we all know... Read more
I read with interest fellow Anxious Bencher Jacob Randolph’s excellent recent post on the issues facing the United Methodist General Conference 2024. My interest arose from the fact that just over four years ago I wrote an analysis of the issues facing the United Methodist General Conference 2020. As Jake noted, that conference never happened. COVID postponed it all the way until this year. What struck me is how similar the issues still are–even after the possible split I wrote... Read more
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