Make America Biblical Again

May 20, 2016 By D. G. Hart

Not too long ago I called attention to the tendency of evangelical historians to criticize faith-based political conservatives and leave left-of-center evangelical activists or politicians alone. But this takes the cake. Here an evangelical historian chastises evangelicals — wait for it — for being unbiblical: During Reagan’s administration and the George H.W. Bush administration, prominent evangelicals were installed in important state positions – Robert J. Billings, a founder of the Moral Majority, worked six years in the Department of Education... Read more

Give ’em a Square Inch And They Take a Mile

May 18, 2016 By D. G. Hart

Did you ever wonder why pastors, bishops, and popes think — despite the specialization and differentiation of modern society — that religious officers are qualified to speak on any subject imaginable? Heck, my wife doesn’t listen to me on 55% of my opinions. But stick a Bible in a pastor’s hand or put a funny hat on a bishop and all of a sudden he may legitimately “pontificate” about any aspect of human existence? Physicians and attorneys don’t have that... Read more

Why The Bible is Only a Good Book not a Great One

May 13, 2016 By D. G. Hart

Micah Mattix in a review of Arthur Krystal’s new book on the Great Books writes this: “Great writers,” however, by which Krystal means literary ones, “hit us over the head because they present characters whose imaginary lives have real consequences (at least while we’re reading about them), and because they see the world in much the way we do: complicated by surface and subterranean feelings, by ambiguity and misapprehension, and by the misalliance of consciousness and perception.” In “A Sad... Read more

America First

May 11, 2016 By D. G. Hart

Don’t let all that prejudice against Donald Trump get in the way of understanding an important debate about U.S. foreign policy before the nation became “great.” Michael Brendan Dougherty explains: America First was a young, politically diverse, and surprisingly well-lettered movement that wanted to keep America neutral (like Switzerland or Ireland) as Europe descended into World War II. Though it started on the East Coast, it was concentrated in the Midwest and had over two million members nationwide. It counted... Read more

Marriage and the End of Moral Outrage

May 6, 2016 By D. G. Hart

More news about Joe Paterno and his involvement in covering up Jerry Sandusky’s sexual molestation of children has forced me once again to challenge the easy moral outrage of our time. I have an annoying habit that increases my wife’s sanctification of live streaming (via HER Ipad) a Philadelphia morning sports talk radio show while I go through my daily ablutions. My excuse is that this allows me to follow Philadelphia sports without having to subscribe to cable. My wife’s... Read more

Reverse Self-Righteousness

May 4, 2016 By D. G. Hart

OneWheaton has come out strongly against Wheaton College for not denouncing alumnus Dennis Hastert after revelations of his sexual exploits and subsequent illegal cover up: OneWheaton profoundly and unequivocally condemns Dennis Hastert’s serial abusive behavior. We commend the strength and courage it took for Hastert’s victims to speak out against Hastert, the longest standing Speaker of the House. We are appalled that representative members of the Wheaton College community would write in support of Hastert rather than standing in solidarity... Read more

Uh Oh, The Moral World Just Got More Complicated

April 29, 2016 By D. G. Hart

First comes word that Brazilians love the Confederate Flag: If you guessed Santa Barbara D’Oeste, Brazil, you hit it on the nose. One of the more odd Civil-War-related articles I’ve seen in a while was carried by USA Today over the weekend. (You can read it here.) The article, titled “Why These Brazilians Love the Confederate Flag,” was timed to coincide with an annual festival in this south Brazilian city sponsored by the Fraternidade Descendencia Americana. The F.D.A. is an... Read more

Would Randy Have John’s Back on Jim?

April 26, 2016 By D. G. Hart

Jim Wallis that is. Truth be told, I am a historian with certain religious and political convictions. When I write about the faith I am prone to tap my Old School Presbyterian beliefs. Providentially for me, those convictions also involve a doctrine called the spirituality of the church, one often much derided for its political passivity during debates over slavery, but one I first encountered when reading disputes about Prohibition. The doctrine teaches that the church (unlike OT Israel which... Read more

Wesleyans (finally) defeat Calvinists

April 22, 2016 By D. G. Hart

About two decades ago, Donald Dayton and George Marsden had a bit of a kerfuffle over the latter’s book on Fuller Seminary. Marsden had emphasized the Reformed (i.e. New School Presbyterian) background of the school’s founding and Dayton, a non-Reformed Protestant who worked at Baptist and Wesleyan institutions, objected. Dayton believed that Marsden had bleached the Methodist and holiness hues out of mid-twentieth century neo-evangelicalism. Here is one way of describing the different interpretations: These ‘memories’ centering on the fundamentalist-modernist... Read more

Thinking Christianly or Constitutionally

April 20, 2016 By D. G. Hart

In a review of John Wilsey’s new book, American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion, Richard Gamble raises questions that should make all Christians in the United States wonder if they get a pass, simply by being believers, from the republic’s civil laws and institutions. In his search for a national mission in line with America’s best traditions and with Christian theology, [Wilsey] affirms George W. Bush’s account of such a mission in his justification for America’s humanitarian efforts in Africa. For... Read more