A friend of mine recently advised me that only 11 percent of Stanford University undergraduates are now majoring in the Humanities. We both suggested this is a great loss. Of course, we both teach in the humanities, I in American Religion, and she in Medieval Christianity. We are both constantly flummoxed by the emphasis at our schools—a public university in my case and a liberal arts college in hers—on the importance of STEM: science, technology, engineering and math. Well, yes,... Read more
In my 2008 study of Evangelicals vs. Liberals: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest, I mapped what I thought was a strong and even permanent Evangelical Civic Gospel. This Civic Gospel had six interlocking strands that I developed from my research, reading and thinking about American evangelicalism: 1) Conversion to Christ will address and resolve all social problems; 2) the U.S. Government should be in the business of protecting the American religious (Christian) heritage; 3) the United... Read more
I have to say it’s been a surprise to hear so consistently about the end of American evangelicalism. My own experience with the tradition goes back a long ways to my marginal participation in Young Life (mostly because of friends and girls) and then on and off in various groups in college. But the break was solidified the night I attended a Josh McDowell revival at my university; midway through I walked out. I couldn’t take the idea that anyone... Read more
Thank you for visiting my new Patheos blog on American Religion. I will be posting my first entry here soon! Read more
James Wellman on American Religion
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