It’s fair to say that most Christians are respectfully aware of the Talmud as something that exists somewhere out there, and they know that it has a sacred quality for Jews, but is not something that they themselves are likely to approach – nor do they have any great idea what it might contain. The same is true of the larger body of rabbinic writing and scholarship – the Mishnah, Midrashic interpretations, legal Halakhah, mystical Qabala, This post is not... Read more
The Genesis of Gender by Abigail Favale articulates a version of sexual difference egalitarianism. This is a project I deeply believe in. It’s also one of the most controversial books I’ve read lately. So when Current asked me to review it, I was in. Here is a taste: More authors should emulate Abigail Favale’s approach to writing philosophy. The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory is a philosophy of sex, and sex is always interesting. But a certain type of... Read more
The story has been repeated so many times that it’s now one of the most familiar in the history of white evangelical politics. It goes like this: White evangelicals voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 because they were convinced that the born-again Southern Baptist deacon was one of their own. Sometime between 1977 and 1980, they decided that something – maybe abortion, gay rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, “secular humanism,” or an IRS civil rights directive that would affect Christian... Read more
The number of religiously unaffiliated people has risen significantly over the past few decades, a fact that has been the focus of much commentary and collective handwringing about the future of religion and the impact of non-affiliation on civic engagement, pluralism, and American democracy. But non-religious people themselves have received comparatively less consideration in both religious studies scholarship and the public discourse. Who are these “religious nones,” and how have they navigated their decision to be non-religious in the... Read more
Occasionally when I speak and write on race, someone will ask what I think about reparations. Since I now try to be very consistent in narrating the history of race as a history of greed and exploitation, my answer to whether or not we should seek/advocate for reparations is probably pretty obvious: as a moral question, “yes” is the only proper response. I’m sure there are some folks willing to argue about whether or not they are appropriate, but I... Read more
A couple of recent encounters have reshaped my understandings of the ancient world, and specifically of Christian origins. The specific topic is Roman roads. Like everyone, I have always known that the Romans built such things, but these discoveries have really helped me grasp their importance as never before, and I am still processing the implications. In a couple of ways, Roman roads are suddenly back in the news. The first is an excellent series of radio programs or podcasts... Read more
On the demography of global Christianity Read more
Last week I stood in the early Christian catacombs. Just feet below some of the busiest streets of Rome, third and fourth century followers of Jesus buried their dead. Original paintings still decorate the walls–including what seems to be the earliest visual depiction of Madonna and Child. Many of the people once buried in the niches around me lived before Christianity was legalized, some even before Origen died or Arius had begun teaching his heretical ideas. The vibrancy of their... Read more
In my last post, I argued that the histories of the U.S. Black Church and Brazilian Protestantism have points of contact that could be fruitful for constructing a hemispheric Afro-descendant Christianity. I said that these points of contact could be revealed in at least two ways: 1-via stories of Black religiously informed resistance in Latin America that resemble moments in the histories of the U.S. Black Church and, perhaps paradoxically, 2-by revealing overlaps between the religiously informed White supremacies that... Read more
“Los San Patricios” (Pino Cacucci, 2015) “Have you heard of the San Patricios?” a student asked me a few years ago during an evening Modern Latin American history class; being in ROTC, he was a military history enthusiast and often shared interesting historical tidbits during discussion. I was lecturing on the War of North American Invasion – what we in the U.S. call the Mexican-American War – and we had paused to consider the implications of learning about this conflict... Read more
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