On Loneliness and Solitude

Last updated on: April 5, 2022 at 6:51 pm By Thomas Albert Howard

I have recently had the pleasure of hosting a two-speaker conference on the theme of “Loneliness and Solitude” on the campus of Valparaiso University. We choose this topic because we thought it might connect well with students’ experience of Covid, while also shedding light on a difficult and perennial aspect of the human condition. Our two invited guests were Samantha Rose Hill (Senior Fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and Associate Faculty at the Brooklyn Institute... Read more

Save Us, Lord, We Are Perishing!

Last updated on: April 16, 2022 at 8:28 am By Philip Jenkins

In several past blogs, I have commented on the extreme difficulty of reading the New Testament in English translation (or any translation), where you miss a lot of the connections, echoes, and resonances that would strike a Greek speaker. The same is true of Hebrew in the Old Testament, where reading in even the best translation means missing a great many puns and word-plays, but that’s a separate subject. Here I want to focus on one particular Greek word that... Read more

Gone Girl: Disappearing Women from an Easter Hymn

Last updated on: April 11, 2022 at 6:00 pm By Beth Allison Barr

I’m currently on a research trip in England, so am posting from my Anxious Bench archives. Since I wrote this Easter post in 2017, probably a lot of folk missed it. I have updated the images from my very recent trip last Sunday to Norwich–ceiling bosses from the magnificant Norwich Cathedral and sites associated with Julian of Norwich. Speaking of Norwich, stay tuned for a postscript I have written for the one year anniversary of The Making of Biblical Womanhood... Read more

“The Ukrainian Family”

Last updated on: April 11, 2022 at 1:15 pm By Chris Gehrz

In recent days, Marc Chagall's WWII-era painting of a "Ukrainian Family" has been circulating on social media. Chris explains why it matters that it actually shows a Jewish family, and why Chagall often used Christian iconography to respond to the Shoah. Read more

The Way to Easter

Last updated on: April 9, 2022 at 9:06 am By Philip Jenkins

During Holy Week, it’s tempting to think about the way, or rather, the Way. That particular word appears often in the gospels, but the dilemmas of translation make it hard to see that – or shall we say, even to find the way. Let me explain. For some years now, I have found it hard to read the New Testament in English alone. Now, don’t think I’m showing off there. My Greek is no better than OK (although it is... Read more

Temperance Abroad: A Tale of the Temperance Movement in the Most Baptist Land on Earth

Last updated on: April 5, 2022 at 1:22 pm By Philip Jenkins

Husezo Rhakho is a doctoral student in the Religion Department at Baylor University. He holds a BA in History from Patkai Christian College, an MDiv from Kohima Bible College in Nagaland, India, and a ThM in Christian Thought (World Missions/Global Christianity), from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He studies World Christianity and History of Christian Mission, particularly in Asia. His research centers on the trends and growth of Christianity in the global south from an insider’s perspective. He comes from Nagaland, in... Read more

Lascars, Askaris, and the Footsoldiers of Empire

Last updated on: April 3, 2022 at 1:27 pm By Philip Jenkins

As empires spread around the world, they carry with them ideas and institutions, and terminology, usually with no intent of doing so. From the nature of imperial rule, military forces are a great vehicle for such themes, or memes, if you like. Witness how bagpipes survive and flourish in a great many armies across Africa and Asia, pretty much wherever the British army of old made its presence felt (and heard, loudly). Last time I discussed how the Turkish idea... Read more

A Tragic Anniversary: The Politics of Jesus Turns Fifty

Last updated on: April 3, 2022 at 1:35 pm By David Swartz

Reflections on a book of peace written by a violent man Read more

College for Christians

Last updated on: April 5, 2022 at 9:35 am By Chris Gehrz

Why go to college? How do you find a good fit? Is the cost worth it? And what will college mean for my faith? Chris introduces a new podcast dedicated to helping Christian families ask better questions about higher education. Read more

The Five Emerging Factions in Evangelical Higher Education

Last updated on: April 4, 2022 at 11:27 pm By Daniel K. Williams

Will the culture war flashpoints that are fragmenting American evangelicalism divide evangelical higher education as well? This question was on my mind in the days leading up to the 2022 Conference on Faith and History that met at Baylor University last week, and now that I have returned from the conference, the question continues to concern me. Two plenary keynotes at the CFH (one from Kristin Du Mez and the other from Jemar Tisby) encouraged Christian historians to embrace activism... Read more

What is the official state church of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden?