Eric Metaxas is hawking a book that condemns evangelicals for failing to stand-up to Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. He compares Biden and the Democrats to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s and is using his widely […]
Archives for October 2022
AHA president James Sweet: “The apology I issued” was not a “retraction.” Activists historians are starting a fight they will not win.
Over at The Atlantic, David Frum revisits James Sweet’s column at the Perspectives on History. I covered this controversy about history and presentism in a way that was favorable to Sweet’s position. See these posts: The James Sweet/AHA blowup What […]
Evangelical roundup for October 31, 2022
What is going on in Evangelical land? The growing political influence of Latino evangelicals. More on progressive evangelicals in Brazil who reject the “Bolsonarization of Churches” How Christian ethics became right wing populism. Jim Wallis on the attack on Paul […]
How to Avert a Partisan Civil War
Can each side find a way to preserve freedom for the other?
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Current pays its writers. But should you write for free? What is dark academia? Bono on his new memoir. Alan Light reviews it here. And Chris Klimek here. What do […]
What is the Civics Secures Democracy Act?
James F. O’Connor, the president of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, explains in a piece at the Cincinnati Inquirer: A famous tale about Benjamin Franklin goes as follows: Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional […]
Heather Cox Richardson on writing history’s first draft
The Boston College history professor’s Letters from an American is the most read newsletter on Substack. Here is a taste of John Wolfson’s interview with Richardson at Boston College Magazine: How did Letters from an American get its start?I had a Facebook […]
What are evangelical pundits and politicians saying about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband?
In case you missed it, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was cracked over the head with a hammer by an intruder in their San Francisco home. The intruder shouted “Where’s Nancy?” (This, by the way, was the same thing that […]
Evangelical leaders, including Mark Driscoll, anoint Kari Lake with oil
In case you haven’t heard of Kari Lake, she is running for governor of Arizona. She has the endorsement of Donald Trump. She is also an anti-masker, anti-vaxxer, and 2020 election denier. She believes that the Biden administration is advancing […]
Should America be a Christian nation?
45% of Americans say the United States should be a Christian nation, according to a new study from Pew Research. An even higher number–60%–believe that the founding fathers “originally intended” for the United States to be a Christian nation. And […]
The hope of socialism
Here is a taste of Katha Pollit’s recent piece at Dissent: On the other hand, if you have open elections, with a free press and organized political parties that can compete on equal terms with the governing party, people can […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current: John Fea, “I Baptize You in the Name of Donald Trump“ John Fea, “My First Encounter with the Christian Right“ Adam Jortner, “FiveThirtyEight Hates Democracy“ Marvin Olasky, “LONG FORM: A […]
REVIEW: A Winner’s History of the Catholic Church
John McGreevy’s story calls into question the future of the Church itself
Commonplace Book #224
There is no denying that we do live in a land where the prophets of Baal are braying loudly. Where many believers hang on the latest tweets from King Ahab. And where the 7,000 who have not bowed a knee […]
The Nixon Library has released another recording in which Billy Graham and Richard Nixon discuss Jews and the “Synagogue of Satan”
Back in September we called your attention to a 1972 conversation between Billy Graham and Richard Nixon that was, according to researcher Mike Hertenstein, “quietly posted on the Nixon Library website.” The conversation reveals Graham talking about Jews as part […]
Evangelical Roundup for October 27, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical land? Gordon Fee, RIP. Vote Common Good goes to Ohio. Non-denominational Christians. Evangelicals host an LGBTQ inclusion conference. One evangelical calls out another evangelical: Slacktivist on our blast from the past on Dallas Theological Seminary. […]
I Baptize You in the Name of Donald Trump
“There are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception.”
One of the last children of enslaved Americans dies at 90
His name was Daniel R. Smith. Here is Harrison Smith at The Washington Post: Growing up in the 1930s, Daniel R. Smith would listen to stories from his father, as young boys often do. He was not supposed to hear […]
Is November 2022 the most important election since 1850?
As I type this, I am watching presidential historian Jon Meacham on CNN. He is saying that the 2022 midterm elections are the most important elections since the 1850s. Why? Because the rule of law is on the ballot. Michael […]
The American Historical Association announces 2022 prize winners
Read the full list here. Here are a few that caught my eye: The Albert J. Beveridge Award in the history of the United States, Latin America, or Canada, from 1492 to the present: Roberto Saba (Wesleyan Univ.) for American Mirror: The United […]