Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University, where he is based in the Institute for Studies of Religion. Born in Wales in 1952, he was educated at Clare College, University of Cambridge, earning a prestigious “Double First” degree (Double First-Class Honors) and his doctorate in History in 1978. After teaching at Penn State University for over three decades, he joined Baylor, where he continues to explore the intersection of history, faith, and global religion. The Economist has called him “one of America’s best scholars of religion.”
Though his original training was in early modern British history, Jenkins has since become one of the most prolific and wide-ranging voices in the study of religion and culture. He is the author of more than thirty books, translated into sixteen languages, spanning topics from global Christianity to climate-driven religious change. His landmark work The Next Christendom (Oxford University Press, 2002) was described by Christianity Today as a “contemporary classic.” Other notable titles include The Lost History of Christianity, Jesus Wars, Fertility and Faith, and his most recent, Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith: How Changes in Climate Drive Religious Upheaval (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Beyond his books, Jenkins is a sought-after speaker who has delivered more than 150 public lectures on global Christianity alone. His articles and commentary have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic, and First Things, among many others. He has long served as a regular columnist and reviewer for the Christian Century. At Patheos, Jenkins writes The Anxious Bench, where he brings his historian’s eye to the pressing questions of faith, culture, and the ever-changing religious landscape.
This is what Professor Jenkins has to say about contributing to Patheos.
My Anxious Bench column is enormously useful for me in organizing my thoughts on a topic in a short form where I just don’t have time to go into any great digressions. It forces me to see the point of an issue! Also, when a theme runs over into a series of several such posts, that tells me that I have something substantial to work with, and one post inevitably leads on to another. Ideally, I get comments and responses, whether on the site or through personal emails, and that lets me know that I am hitting a subject of real interest at least to some people.
Such a series easily develops into a lengthier project, and I think four of the last books I published originated with such connected series of posts at the site, for which I am truly grateful. Moreover, writing here allows me to get into topics that are far from my usual range of interests, and where I have no wish to get into formal academic writings, such as learned articles: I can just explore ideas on subjects that strike my attention at a particular moment. That gives me such freedom! For a writer, it is Liberty Hall.
We asked Professor Jenkins what advice he would give to future Patheos contributors.
The most important lesson is always that of audience. Different kinds of writing work in different settings, and there is certainly a place for dense technical arguments heavily supported by citations. Things are totally different when you are writing in a journalistic way, or for the kind of deeply interested but non-specialist readership that you find on a blog like Anxious Bench. In particular, thinking about audience tells you how much background you can properly assume about any topic: you must decide where your reader is coming from, how much they already know (or assume) and then you can lead them along in a friendly way. Or at least, that is what I try to do: I am sure it does not always work as I plan.
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