The Conference on Faith and History (CFH) has its annual board meeting this Friday, on the heels of annual meetings for both the American Historical Association (AHA) and the American Society of Church History (ASCH). CFH is an affiliate member of the AHA and the organization has traditionally hosted a breakfast for its members at AHA, along with hosting a panel. If you happened to be in Philadelphia last week, I hope you ran into my Anxious Bench colleague, Lisa... Read more
Like many of you, I watched in horror last Monday as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin fell backwards following a collision in the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. I sat, stunned and suddenly riveted, as medical personnel worked to revive the 24-year-old. Shocked players fell to their knees, hugged one another, and openly wept. They also prayed. Groups of Bills and Bengals players huddled, their heads bowed, as did fans, regardless of team affiliation, in the... Read more
“The Americans, having introduced slavery among them, their hearts have become almost seared, as with a hot iron, and God has nearly given them up to believe a lie in preference to the truth!!! And I am awfully afraid that pride, prejudice, avarice and blood, will, before long prove the final ruin of this happy republic, or land of liberty!!!… Will the Lord suffer this people to go on much longer, taking his holy name in vain? Will he not... Read more
Can a whole society have a life verse? As I argue in my recent book, Psalm 91 is one of the scriptures most used by Christians and Jews through history to confront a variety of dangers, most tellingly war and disease. The psalm, after all, appears to promise that those who invoke not only may be protected from harm, but that they assuredly will. We find examples of such invocations throughout the past couple of millennia, but I was struck... Read more
Today we have the pleasure of welcoming a guest contribution from Jacob Huneycutt, a history M. A. student at Baylor University. You may follow @jacobhuneycutt_ on Twitter. “If the measure for memorializing men and women from the past is perfection, we won’t be left with many heroes.” In an essay written last week for Princetonians for Free Speech, Kevin DeYoung offered that advice on why we should continue to honor John Witherspoon (1723-1794), one of America’s Founding Fathers and the sixth... Read more
I’ve been long in the habit of sharing enjoyable reads from the last year. For the past few years I’ve done this on social media. This is the first time, in a bit, that I’ve put together an article about my reading from the past year, so it’s worthwhile to share my reading habits, interests, and goals. Since I’m a historian, my reading predominantly favors this discipline, and the list I craft each year is on history books. That’s not... Read more
Through the years, I have worked on how media portrayals reflect changing attitudes towards religion, and in turn do a great deal to shape those attitudes. In fact, I have a piece in the current Christian Century on “Priests on Screen,” looking at some recent European representations of clergy. Given that background, I was struck by one American production this past year, from a surprising source. The TV series in question was Mo, starring comedian Mohammed Amer, who also created... Read more
One of the wonderful things about working on a book about how women navigated theological debates in the early twentieth century has been the opportunity to learn about so many faithful Christian women. One who was new to me was Helen Barrett Montgomery. Montgomery served as president of the Northern (later American) Baptist convention during the years 1921–1922, the height of its fundamentalist-modernist controversy, the early twentieth-century split between theological and sometimes social conservatives and liberals that still reverberates today.... Read more
2022 was the most momentous year in the history of American abortion politics since 1973. It was the year that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the year that the strictest antiabortion laws in American history went into effect in several states. As of this month, near-total abortion bans are in effect in thirteen states, and highly restrictive laws have been passed in several others. That hasn’t happened in half a century. And yet the number of abortions... Read more
The winter holidays are a time when Americans celebrate home and family. Consider the songs that are part of the season’s soundscape—“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” for example, and “Home for the Holidays”—and the feel-good stories of family festivities that we admire and share on social media: all of these things are expressions of how family is central to the religious and secular rituals that mark this time of year, to the point that family time takes on a sacred... Read more
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