Since it is ever more obvious that the current academy functions primarily to replicate an increasingly inequitable status quo, it is hard to imagine how it could be restructured to serve a more democratic purpose without external pressure for something […]
Archives for February 2022
Evangelical roundup for February 14, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Evangelicals and the Canadian freedom envoy. An important evangelical voice laments: Mike Pence is giving the April 2022 commencement address at evangelical Columbia International University. Beth Moore is still living rent free in the […]
Coca-Cola and Authenticity: What’s Not to Like?
The quest for the true inner self goes on, and on, and on . . .Â
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Who would win a fight between a Bengal tiger and a ram? 19th-century chimney sweepers Lynching postcards William G. Thomas reviews Linda Hirschman, The Color of Abolition: How a Printer, […]
How to connect with Current
In January 2022, Current added several new features: We opened-up the comments section for patrons. We published a new masthead and announced our board of Contributing Editors. We introduced a “Long Form” feature. (Check out our first piece here). The […]
Evangelicals and small groups
Evangelicals love small groups. For many large churches, small groups are essential to building community, developing spiritual friendships, and strengthening the Body of Christ through the practice of prayer, Bible study, and fellowship. In an interesting and well-researched piece at […]
The director of Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center knows who we are. Is he rounding-up a posse and coming for us?
Ryan Helfenbein’s Twitter bio says that he is a “Christ Follower,” a “Husband and Father,” and a “Texas native.” He also uses the Latin phrase “Soli Dei Gloria” (“glory to God alone”). Helfenbein holds a Master of Divinity degree from […]
Colonial Williamsburg has a massive fundraising year
Here is Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation announced that Colonial Williamsburg (CW) received a record $102 million from donors in 2021. The amount is an increase of 42 percent over the previous record of $72 million set in 2019. Last year’s total includes […]
A St. Louis anti-vaxxer was arrested, strapped down by four men, and vaccinated after trying to convince Blacks from the South not to take the vaccine
The article is from the St. Louis Dispatch, August 6, 1923. Thanks to historian Andrew Wehrman for bringing this to my attention. Here is his Twitter commentary:
Capitalism exhibits “moral idiocy”
I just learned about Christian cultural critic Rodney Clapp‘s recent book Naming Neoliberalism: Exposing the Spirit of Our Age. (I have never met Clapp, but he was the acquisition editor at Baker Books who offered me a contract for Why […]
Abortions drop 60% in Texas under new law
Here is Paul Weber of the Associated Press: Abortions in Texas fell by 60% in the first month under the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S. in decades, according to new figures that for the first time reveal a […]
On John Wilsey’s review of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary church historian John Wilsey recently took a shot at Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne in a review published at a conservative website called Ad Fontes. Though Wilsey shows much more empathy than some […]
What Florida history students may not learn if Gov. Ron DeSantis gets his way
Here is Gillian Brockell at The Washington Post: The Florida state legislature kicked off Black History Month by advancing bills that would allow parents to sue a school if any instruction caused students “discomfort, guilt or anguish.” The bills have […]
Is there just one American origin story?
Emily Sclafani teaches history at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx. Here is a taste of her piece at the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History titled “The Danger of a Single Origin Story.” I write this as a secondary […]
Commonplace Book #205
Instead of making a case for a more democratic system that would offer all comers access to a high-quality system of universal higher education, the academy’s leaders adopted the individualistic mantra of neo-liberalism. They mouthed platitudes about the common good, […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: Jeremy Sabella, “The Tower of Babel and the American Experiment“ John Fea, “‘Jesus is My Favorite Philosopher‘” John Fea, The President Lacks a “Sense of Urgency and Outrage” Christopher Shannon, […]
The Author’s Corner with Kocku von Stuckrad
Kocku von Stuckrad is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. This interview is based on his new book, A Cultural History of the Soul: Europe and North America from 1870 to the Present (Columbia University Press, 2022). […]
Apocalypse and Revelation
What if God still speaks through fire and tempest?
My new toy
“While the Right has been busy taking the White House, the Left has been marching on the English department.” E.J. Dionne and Michael Kazin remember Todd Gitlin.
Here is a taste of Dionne’s column on the hero of the New Left who died this past weekend at the age of 79: …Gitlin was president of SDS from 1963 to 1964 and wrote the best account of the […]