Gene Hackman, RIP
Archives for February 2025
Did God answer Franklin Graham’s prayer? Evangelicals respond to what happened today in the Oval Office
What an embarrassment for the United States of America. Watch: Some American evangelicals are responding: Did God answer Franklin Graham’s prayer?:
Why we need National Park Service rangers
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are making heavy cuts to the National Park Service. We covered that here. But I wonder if Trump and Musk really understand all that National Park Service rangers do every day. Clarissa Moll does. Here […]
A social critic “struggling to break free”
Over at Commonweal, George Scialabba reviews Musa al-Gharbi’s We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions of a New Elite. It’s a largely negative review. But what struck me the most was Scialabba’s final paragraphs: I don’t mean to dismiss We […]
Song of the Day
The Author’s Corner with Jonathan Shandell
Jonathan Shandell is Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at Arcadia University. This interview is based on his new book, Readying the Revolution: African American Theater and Performance from Post-World War II to the Black Arts Movement (University of Michigan Press, […]
What is going on at The Washington Post opinion page?
Did The Washington Post just become The Wall Street Journal? It sure seems like it. Here is Michael Schaffer at Politico: On Wednesday morning, outgoing Washington Post Opinion Editor David Shipley huddled with his soon-to-be former staff. Barely an hour earlier, owner […]
Pivot Points: Adventures on the Road to Christian Contentment (Chapter 8)
Better Things for Better Living
REVIEW: Renaissance Man
Charlie Peacock’s memoir drives deep into evangelicalism’s historic twentieth-century turn
The Bluffton University merger with the University of Findlay will not proceed
I gave lectures at both of these schools earlier this month and everything sounded like the merger between Bluffton University and the University of Findlay was moving along as planned. Bluffton’s president resigned yesterday. And today this was announced: Here […]
Seeking common ground: A day with students and faculty from Georgetown Day School
Last week I spent the day at Messiah University (where I have taught history for 23 years) with students, faculty, and the Head of School from Georgetown Day School (GDS), a prep school in Washington D.C. This is the fourth […]
Martin Marty’s graduate students
The late church historian taught an all-star lineup of graduate students at the University of Chicago: M. Barbara Akin (1970, History)+Catherine Albanese (1972)Robert Alvis (2000)Richard Anderson (1973, History)R. Scott Appleby (1985)Yaakov Ariel (1986)James Ash (1976)+Paul Baglyos (1997)Craig Barnes (1992)Marvin Bergman (1990)James Block (1999, CSThought)Eileen Brewer (1984)James Bundy (1979)Jonathan Butler (1975)Stephen Carleton (1975)+Dennis Castillo (1990)Robert Choquette […]
Victoria Amelina’s final book: Looking at Women, Looking at War
The poet who became a war crimes investigator.
LONG FORM: Does Traditional Protestantism Have a Future?
A plea for communion in the face of loss
Anti-Catholicism is alive and well in some sectors of the evangelical world
In case you haven’t heard, Pope Francis is in critical condition. I know that there are many people around the world who do not agree with the way Pope Francis has applied his Christian faith to social, cultural, and political […]
Martin Marty, RIP
One of the twentieth-century’s greatest and most prolific American church historians has died. Here is Martin Marty’s obituary: Martin E. Marty (February 5, 1928 – February 25, 2025) Martin Emil Marty (97), religious historian and retired University of Chicago Divinity […]
Pivot Points: Adventures on the Road to Christian Contentment (Chapter 7)
Today I Am a Married Man
LONG FORM: (De)constructing the “Christian Menace”
Surveys are poor tools for detecting religious extremists—and much else
“For Wheaton”: Come, Let Us Reason Together
An open letter to Eric Teetsel, the original signer of “For Wheaton”
The Wheaton College-Russell Vought controversy continues with the satirical website, “Faux Wheaton”
Not yet familiar with the Wheaton College-Russell Vought controversy? Check there are links to our coverage here. Check it out here. A taste: To the creators and signatories of For Wheaton: THANK YOU!​ This has been a long time coming. […]