What was it like to experience the first taste of freedom after a lifetime in slavery? Two letters from 1865 help to answer that question by showing both the jubilation that formerly enslaved people experienced immediately after emancipation and the […]
Why does the US have such a large national debt?
Now that the country has once again survived a trip to the brink of financial chaos in exchange for concessions related to the debt ceiling, it’s worth asking why the United States has such a large federal debt and what […]
Cultivating humility: reflections after the death of Tim Keller
When Benjamin Franklin was a young man, he decided to make a checklist of virtues to practice in order to complete the “bold and arduous task of moral perfection.” As an eighteenth-century deist, this seemed to be an imminently sensible […]
Are local family ties worth the sacrifice of a career dream? Maybe so.
One of the students in my US history survey class this semester began his final family history essay by describing how close he feels to his extended family – and how close his relatives feel to him and to each […]
A gift guide for graduates
Graduation season is coming up! If you are stumped for gift ideas for your favorite high-school and college grads, we have put together a starter gift guide for you. Sure, you could always just put some cash in a card. […]
Evangelicals didn’t always champion gun rights – and mainline Protestants didn’t always oppose guns
Today there’s a stark difference between white evangelicals’ attitudes toward guns and the attitudes of mainline Protestants and adherents of other branches of Christianity. While several mainline Protestant denominations are now strong advocates of gun control, white evangelicals are more […]
Dropping out of College: A Crisis We Must Address
Amid deep structural challenges, remember the power of a personal response
Praise God for suffering? Reformed evangelicals say yes
When Nadya and I visited a Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) congregation in Atlanta this past Sunday, one of the worship songs we sang was Shane & Shane’s 2021 rendition of Psalm 42 (“As the Deer”), which includes this riff […]
The fragmentation of evangelical politics
This week I traveled to Wheaton College to deliver a lecture titled “The Fragmentation of Evangelical Politics: What Happened – and How Can We Pick up the Pieces?” Here’s a brief excerpt from my presentation. Evangelicals are divided in their […]
Josh Butler’s TGC article was a failure for cultural apologetics — but it doesn’t have to be the last word
Amidst all of the commentary on Josh Butler’s now-withdrawn article on “God’s Vision for Sex” for The Gospel Coalition (TGC), one question has received little attention: What did the leaders of TGC hope to accomplish by promoting Butler’s book? Clearly, […]
The moral consciousness of a chatbot
Artificial intelligence seemed to behave badly this past month. Tesla had to recall 362,000 of its self-driving cars for a software update after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that these AI-controlled vehicles were speeding through yellow lights, failing […]
REVIEW: What Would Adam Smith Do?
There may be no satisfying answer to this question, says Glory Liu
Studying history with nuance and context: some advice to graduate students
Last weekend I gave a keynote address at a graduate history conference on power and struggle that was organized by students at the University of Alabama. I encouraged the graduate students to embrace complexity and nuance in their historical study, […]
For Today’s College Students, the Future Is Healthcare – But What Is Our Country’s Future?
We’ve heard many laments about the recent sharp declines in the number of humanities majors on college campuses, but something more profound is happening than merely a shift away from the liberal arts or a new college emphasis on careers. […]
Equity and Justice at a Harvard Abortion Conference
Last week I attended a conference on abortion that was held at Harvard University. It was a fascinating conference, partly because it brought together both supporters and opponents of legal abortion who in many cases shared a belief in expanded […]
White Evangelicals and the Civil Rights Movement
Turning away from past errors requires more evangelical theology—not less
How to Avert a Partisan Civil War
Can each side find a way to preserve freedom for the other?
Dropping out of College: A Crisis We Must Address
Amid deep structural challenges, remember the power of a personal response
Should the Supreme Court Protect Abortion Laws from Democracy?
We would like to think of ourselves as a unified nation. Our laws tell a different story.
FORUM: The End of Roe, Day Three
A time to listen