The New Fides et Historia

Starting sometime next year, Fides et Historia, the scholarly journal of the Conference on Faith and History, will have a new home at Eastern Nazarene College. The journal will be edited by Don Yerxa, the current director of The Historical Society and senior editor of the Society’s signature publication, Historically Speaking (published by Johns Hopkins University Press). Don will be joined by Randall Stephens, the current editor of Historically Speaking and the co-editor of the Journal of Southern Religion.

A new editorial board has also been put in place. The lineup includes:

Peggy Bendroth, (American Congregational Association Library)
Chris Beneke, (Bentley University)
John Fea, (Messiah College)
Peter Harrison, (Harris Manchester College, Oxford)
Thomas Kidd, (Baylor University)
David Livingstone (Queens University Belfast)
Wilfred McClay, (Tennessee-Chattanooga)
Eric Miller (Geneva College)
Jon Roberts (Boston University)
William Shea (University of Padua)

In a recent e-mail, Yerxa explained his editorial vision for the journal:

We will produce a journal of consistently high quality that is known for its provocative, accessibly written, and insightful explorations of the implications of faith for historical inquiry. We want Fides to be a journal that people receive with anticipation, expecting it to stimulate and challenge. There is much talk these days about the “big questions.” And we want to establish Fides not only as the journal of record for matters of Christian faith and historical studies, but also as a congenial venue for exploring the larger meanings of historical inquiry.

High on our agenda will be the goal of diversifying the content of Fides such that church and/or religious history doesn’t overwhelm other topics. We will seek to publish more roundtable discussions along the lines of the session at the January 2009 meeting of the American Historical Association on “History and Belief: Reconciling the Historian’s Craft and Religious Commitment” (with Bruce Kuklick, Mark Noll, Richard Bushman, Brad Gregory) or the forum in Historically Speaking on Robert Orsi’s “Abundant History.” We believe that it is important to open up the conversation on faith and history to theologians, to scholars in other disciplines who are grappling with similar questions, and to historians from other faith traditions.

As a former board member of the Conference on Faith and History, I am thrilled with this new direction. (I am also hoping for a new cover design!). Yerxa and Stephens will bring their connections and their energy to this endeavor and I have no doubt Fides will continue to thrive as it has the last several years under the direction of Will Katerberg at Calvin College.