A beautifully decorated tree forms the center-piece of the snow-dusted city square, festive lights are everywhere, holiday music is beaming from every radio, and children flock to sit on the knee of a bearded red-suited jolly grandfather figure. Everyone knows that this is the most wonderful time of the year. But the holiday described here is not Christmas, even if it looks and sounds so much like it. Rather, I am describing the secular New Year celebrations in Soviet Russia,... Read more
As I look over our thirty most-read posts in 2021, I’m reminded of the trademark eclecticism that makes me not just an Anxious Bench contributor, but one of its devoted readers. Where else can you find Philip Jenkins writing about Alice Walker (#27) one day and the “religious nones” (#28) another? (Or Tal Howard writing a moving meditation on Christmas prompted by the launch of a telescope?) And if our regular contributors ever fall into predictable patterns, we’ve got guests... Read more
Recently, I commented on the important new book The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow. Today I want to focus on the religious implications, and specifically for the history of England’s American colonies. As I remarked, theories of early society have usually suggested that as ancient communities became more complex and populous, they developed state mechanisms of kings and priests, and these are essential to creating what we think of as civilization. The long term consequence might... Read more
Chris recommends some of his favorite short reads from 2021, touching on everything from fast food and minor league baseball to the Virgin Mary and the common good. Read more
Something new happened on Christmas Eve in French Guiana: the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. European, Canadian, and American agencies worked together on the project, collaboration that should appear a kind of gift in itself in a time of fragmentation, the New York Times reporting that program’s director exulted, “the world gave us this telescope and we’re handing it back to the world today.” This instrument, seeing farther across space and time than anything before it, is purposed... Read more
As any Bible reader knows, the infant Jesus was visited by Magi, who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and a cold coming they had of it. But where did they actually get these gifts from? However arcane and speculative such a question may seem, the resulting curiosity generated a vast body of Christian literature. Although not mentioned in canonical scripture, the resulting tales became an integral part of faith for countless believers. In the West, the Magi are usually numbered... Read more
Chris explains the history of a war memorial that's "both more ephemeral and more enduring than any structure": the Lessons and Carols service at King's College, Cambridge, held every year since the end of World War I. Read more
Today we welcome Katie Heatherly to The Anxious Bench. Katie is a first year student working on her Masters in History at Baylor. In my graduate seminar this Fall, Women’s History and Theory, I had the students write two of their assignments blog-style. My goal is to help students learn how to communicate scholarship in an accessible way. I then selected what I deemed the best blog from each student and had the class vote on which they thought should... Read more
Chris explains why It's a Wonderful Life is both his favorite Christmas movie... and yet not quite a movie about Christmas. Read more
‘Tis the year’s midnight, which is an excellent time to discuss themes of decline, contraction, and even vanishing. Given that background, I have two closely related topics today. One is a review of the quite dramatic religious trends in the US over the past few years, with an explosive update. The other is a possible reimagining of what America’s future faith might look like. (I will resume my recent series on early concepts of savages and primitive worlds shortly). Over... Read more
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