I saw this tweet today from presidential historian Michael Beschloss: So I looked it up. Here is a taste of the entry on Washington’s death from the Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington, published by The Fred W. Smith National Library […]
Archives for December 2022
Christianity Today announces its 2023 book awards
Here you go: Book of the Year: Uche Anizor, Overcoming Apathy: Gospel Hope for Those Who Struggle to Care Apologetics and Evangelism: Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality […]
The Author’s Corner with Rodney Hessinger
Rodney Hessinger is Professor of History and Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at John Carroll University. This interview is based on his new book, Smitten: Sex, Gender, and the Contest for Souls in the Second Great Awakening (Cornell […]
What, Then, Does Calvin University Mean?*
By restoring communal transparency amid complex cultural shifts, Calvin offers an example to follow
Who are we? Support Current by becoming a patron in this giving season.
If you read our mission statement you will learn that: Current is an online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas. We seek to ground ourselves in the broad tradition of American democracy—a tradition […]
Eugene Robinson on sportswashing
I am not much of a soccer fan, but I have enjoyed following the World Cup. I was skeptical about holding the event in November and December (it was held at this time because of the excruciating Qatar heat), but […]
Anti-Semitism at Flood Tide
And what evangelicals can do about itÂ
The class conflict at the heart of the American Revolution
Over at Jacobin, historian William Hogeland discusses his ongoing work on “workers” and “elites” in the late eighteenth century. Here is a taste of his interview with Astra Taylor: ASTRA TAYLOR: Can you talk about what your narrative of America’s […]
“Experiments in how to capture attention rather than deepen it”
I’ve spent some time studying early American Quakers. This religious group featured prominently in my doctrinal dissertation and I once toyed with writing a book about an early 19th-century Quaker farmer. Perhaps Ezra Klein is onto something in his recent […]
The legal theory behind national conservatism
Over at Politico, Ian Ward has a fascinating longform piece on “common good constitutionalism,” a new legal theory gaining popularity in national conservative circles. It is associated with the work of Harvard law professor Adrian Vermeule. Here is a taste […]
Evangelical roundup for December 12, 2022
What is happening in Evangelical Land? Rob Schenck: The Christian Right “made a deal with the devil”. 63% of evangelicals believe the world is ending, but not because of global warming. Evangelicals, led by Rick Warren, gather to strategize about […]
FORUM: Post-Liberal America
Liberalism as an ideal is one thing. Liberalism in history is another.
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: What social media can learn from the coffeehouse Ross Douthat, Hootie and the Blowfish, and the end of history Randall Kennedy reviews Thomas Ricks, Waging a Good War: A Military […]
Do we need a national rail system?
Jacobin writer Luke Savage thinks so. I am sympathetic to his argument. Here is Savage’s recent piece: Earlier this year, the federal board charged with overseeing America’s rail network called a hearing to discuss widespread complaints about higher costs and poor service. […]
Hail!
Over at The New York Times, Matthew Walther, editor of the Catholic literary journal The Lamp, makes the case of the University of Michigan football program. Here is a taste:  In this year’s College Football Playoff, which begins on New […]
Does Krysten Sinema want another term in the U.S. Senate?
Krysten Sinema left the Democratic Party today. She registered as an Independent. Watch: I applaud Sinema’s independence. But from a political perspective, this looks likes suicide. If she runs again in 2024 as an Independent, the non-GOP vote (we can […]
What is popular this week at Current?
Here are the most popular features of the week at Current:: Here are the most popular posts of the last week at The Way of Improvement Leads Home blog:
Education for Freedom
What can we learn about liberal arts education from Frederick Douglass and the formerly enslaved?
It’s time for the Umbrella Man again
I wrote about the Umbrella Man in my section on historical causation in Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past. Watch: Good news: I just submitted the manuscript for the revised edition of Why Study History. Stay […]
Correcting some misconceptions about my resignation from the presidency of the Conference on Faith and History
Some of you know that I resigned last week as the president of the Conference on Faith and History, an organization of Christian historians of which I have been a member for more than thirty years and have served in […]