This coming Sunday marks the feast of Pentecost. In connection with that, I am posting a substantially revised version of an offering of mine at this site some years ago. As I’ll suggest, the astonishing events that we read about on that first Pentecost were, at one time, regarded as even more critical than we now think of them. Specifically, I will argue that when early Christians first told that dramatic tale, it was as a Resurrection appearance, just as... Read more
I am delighted to welcome Nancy Koester to the Anxious Bench today to discuss her new biography of Sojourner Truth, We Will Be Free: The Life and Faith of Sojourner Truth (Eerdmans). Koester holds a PhD in church history and has taught at both the college and seminary levels. She is ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Her work focuses on nineteenth-century American history, especially the antislavery movement, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. She is inspired by... Read more
When I was losing my faith fourteen years ago, Tim Keller’s writings and sermons gave me a new understanding of the gospel and a restored confidence in the truth of the Christian message. I know that I’m not alone in this. I have met a number of people who have said that Keller helped them return to faith, discover Christian faith for the first time, or gain an increased confidence in the faith they already possess. Although Keller was a... Read more
May is my favorite month of the year, not only because it’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but also because it’s a month we celebrate fresh beginnings, from new leaves brightening the branches of trees to new graduates celebrating their accomplishments and starting a new chapter in their lives. This particular May marks a milestone for me: one decade since I was one of those graduates, a newly minted PhD who delighted in being able to... Read more
My recent work has concerned the Byzantine world in its last days, and that exploration of Midnight in Byzantium, has introduced me to some wonderful stories and fascinating individuals: just how this will end up in published form remains to be determined. But here, I focus on one person who was amazing even by the standards of his age, and who has attracted a sizable scholarly literature – although I have occasionally been startled to meet scholars of Early Modern... Read more
On the many American evangelical uses of a medieval saint Read more
Serapion Sindonites was a devout monk from the fourth century who had the Scriptures memorized, practiced great spiritual discipline, and—surprisingly—never wore clothes, apart from a loincloth. According to his hagiographer, towards the end of his life Serapion meets a pious virgin who lived in solitude. He asks her whether she is alive in Christ and thus dead to the world. She confirms this is the case, claiming that anyone who lives a life of solitude, like her, is dead to... Read more
I just returned from a trip to Brazil, which involved research in three major cities: Manaus, São Paulo, and Brasília. My colleagues (Princeton’s Raimundo Barreto and Auburn’s Erica Ramírez) and I are interested, among other things, in underexplored aspects of Christian Nationalism and its transnational nature. Scholars of Christian Nationalism in the U.S. have rightly observed that the phenomenon cannot be dismissed as a fringe project. Research suggests that a significant part of the U.S. population embraces or sympathizes with... Read more
Spoiler Alert: This article works with cultural memes and identity politics from the most recent episode of Ted Lasso. If you haven’t watched it and you love the show, you may wish to read this article after viewing the episode. The wildly popular AppleTV+ show, Ted Lasso, has continued to escalate its identity politics message during season 3. Its most recent episode 9, La Locker Room Aux Folles, has AFC Richmond continue its resurgent winning streak, many thanks to the... Read more
Today’s post is about one very specific event, but it gets centrally to the way we write history, and how much attention we should give to key dates and people that at first sight seem to affect only the most rarefied elites. For centuries, access to the Classical languages of Greece and Rome has been a prime distinguishing feature of privileged elites in Europe and the West. Surely, then, we might think, tracing the origins of that cultural phenomenon must... Read more
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