Civil Religion Is Different from Christian Nationalism

February 27, 2024 By Daniel K. Williams

When Politico reporter Heidi Przybyla said on MSNBC last week that what “unites” all Christian nationalists is a belief that their rights “come from God” rather than from any “earthly authority” such as Congress or the Supreme Court, numerous Christians rightfully pushed back by pointing to the Declaration of Independence. Surely all those who believe the Declaration’s statement that people are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” are not by default Christian nationalists, are they? Przybyla’s comments accentuate... Read more

Christian Imperial Feminism: An Interview with Gale Kenny

February 26, 2024 By Melissa Borja

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In recent years, the role of Christianity in the development of American empire has received significant attention from both observers of current events and scholars of United States history. Books such as Christian Imperialism by Emily Conroy-Krutz and Religion and U.S. Empire, a collection of essays edited by Tisa Wenger and Sylvester Johnson, reveal the complex ways that Christian beliefs, practices, individuals, and institutions have supported the expansion of American power abroad. And, as scholars like Kathryn Gin Lum and... Read more

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Life in Christianity Today Magazine

February 24, 2024 By Guest Contributor

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The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Christianity Today have a history together. Founded in 1956, Christianity Today established its footing in the same years as King, who became a public figure following the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Both inhabited the broad world of American Christianity. Both sought to shape their constituencies through words formed by faith. Throughout his lifetime and in the months following his death, Christianity Today published fifty-two pieces referencing King. Reviewing these pieces fifty-five... Read more

The Radical Reformation as Renewal (?)

February 23, 2024 By Jacob Randolph

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I have been reading Matthew Barrett’s The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church in preparation for a review. There is much that is commendable in this book, and when my full review is published, likely this summer, I will provide a link for any interested readers. In the abstract, I am for strengthening the connective tissue between the medieval Christianity and the Reformation, so I welcome these sorts of projects. For today, however, I want... Read more

Jesus, Robert Graves, and the Mount of Olives

February 22, 2024 By Philip Jenkins

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Back in my student days, I read a book that did a lot to shape my thinking about things religious. One of its many provocative ideas concerns this very time of year, as we approach Palm Sunday and Holy Week. The whole story raises the question of how a popular novel can offer really sharp insights about what we might think to be technical scholarly debates. It might also affect the way you read the word “mountain” whenever you run... Read more

To Be Looked For: Towards a Philosophy of History

February 21, 2024 By Wyatt Reynolds

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“You need a language with which to express things, which at a certain age you felt you could do yourself, and gradually, somehow, it’s like switching from pastel paint to heavy oils.”[1] Peter Brown wrote these words at the age of eighty-six, having written books in the historical guild since he was in his twenties. I first came across the line while working on my undergraduate capstone, but it has stuck with me through my continuing “journeys of the mind”... Read more

Warrior Jesus: On the Medieval Saxon Gospel

February 20, 2024 By Adam Renberg

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I find artistic depictions of Christ to be fascinating, not only because they reveal truths about Christ, but because they reveal our own priorities, blind spots, and worldviews. Take Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, for example. In his depiction of the resurrection, Grünewald’s Christ springs forth triumphant from the tomb, while the soldiers run in fear. The light pouring from his face and wounds might be theologically edifying, while dwelling on Christ’s victory over death. But, conversely, it isn’t hard to... Read more

Texas Megachurch Pastor Talks about Genocide

February 20, 2024 By Erica Ramirez

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Hi! I am a cultural sociologist searching out Christian Nationalism in Texas Megachurches. I’m looking for a. the degree of race and gender diversity in their pews and on their stages, b. for the salience of charismatic influence in their worship styles and rhetoric, and c. for the way leaders may be playing any role in stoking authoritarianism and white supremacy. (Check out my first post here.) **************************************************************************************************** Two minutes into overtime, five hands went up. There were a pair... Read more

The Racial Escapism of American Evangelical Missions

February 17, 2024 By Guest Contributor

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I learned early on as the child of American missionaries in Kenya that white people were a big deal. Where ever we went, people scurried to help us, lined up to shake our hands, and often scrounged around their meager possessions in search of gifts for us. Children stared at me with wide eyes and sat behind me in church so they could slowly stroke my long, blondish hair, almost in meditation. People looked to my parents for money, opportunity,... Read more

Did God Prepare Native Peoples for Christ? Part II

February 16, 2024 By Verónica A. Gutiérrez

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Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: Did an Ancient Indigenous Tradition Prepare the Americas for Millions of Conversions to Christianity? Part II This (long) post serves as part two of my response to Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared. Part I provides an outline of the book’s argument, which I will not discuss here. Reading Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before... Read more