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Commonplace Book #224

John Fea   |  October 27, 2022

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”

John Fea   |  October 27, 2022

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

John Fea   |  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. […]

One of the last children of enslaved Americans dies at 90

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

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?

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

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

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

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 […]

Michael Kazin: “We’re all Social Democrats now”

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

The Georgetown University historian Michael Kazin writes, “On the left, talk of proletarian revolution has given way to vital debates about how to enact Medicare for All and a Green New Deal, revive unionism, and strip the power of the […]

What happened to Michael Flynn?

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

Here is Peter Wehner at The Atlantic: A prayer at a “ReAwaken America” event in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a few days ago, at which Michael Flynn appeared, captured the sensibilities of this moment: “Father God, we come to you in the name of […]

Dinesh D’Souza’s 2,000 Mules has finally reached bookstores

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

Back in September the conservative publisher Regnery pulled 2,000 Mules, the book version of Dinesh D’Souza’s election fraud documentary. (You may recall that D’Souza called Bill Barr an “overweight,” “largely immobile,” “fatso” after the former attorney general panned the documentary). […]

Is the real threat to free expression cancel culture or the fear of cancel culture?

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

Eve Fairbanks, the author of The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning, is a Virginia-born author who currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She writes as a white woman who published a book about race. Here is […]

Evangelicals gather to “reconstruct” evangelicalism

John Fea   |  October 26, 2022

The speakers include Elizabeth Conde-Fraizer, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Carl Ellis Jr., Walter Kim, Russell Moore, Gavin Ortlund, Karen Swallow Prior, Love Sechrest, Mark Noll, Jay Augustine, Vince Bacote, Gayle Doornbos, Benjamin Espinoza, Malcolm Foley, Ernest Gray, Emily Hunter McGowin, […]

The Author’s Corner with Lloyd Barba

Rachel Petroziello   |  October 26, 2022

Lloyd Barba is Assistant Professor of Religion at Amherst College. This interview is based on his new book, Sowing the Sacred: Mexican Pentecostal Farmworkers in California (Oxford University Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Sowing the Sacred? LB: Having […]

Steven Mintz: A liberal education is a “distinctively American article of faith”

John Fea   |  October 25, 2022

Here is the University of Houston historian at his Insider Higher Ed blog: No longer does the “simple advice to high schoolers to ‘go to college’” suffice. What one studies and where one studies matter greatly in terms of return […]

Historian Jeremi Suri on Abraham Lincoln’s funeral

John Fea   |  October 25, 2022

Here is an excerpt of Suri’s new book Civil War By Other Means. It is published at Lit Hub: The reverence for the slain president grew in coming days. On April 19, a horse-drawn hearse carried Lincoln’s body to the […]

Does Evan McMullin have a chance in Utah?

John Fea   |  October 25, 2022

In Utah, incumbent GOP Senator Mike Lee is running against conservative and 2016 presidential candidate Evan McMullin. The Utah Democratic Party is not running a candidate in this election and is encouraging members to back McMullin. Over at Religion News […]

Boyhood and guns

John Fea   |  October 25, 2022

Over at JSTOR Daily, Rachael Kay Albers asks “how marketing made guns a fundamental element of contemporary boyhood.” She calls attention to the scholarly work of Charles-Edward Anderson, Anne G. Kimball, Sarah L. Olson, Jay Mechling, Wendy Varney, and Garen […]

Become a Current patron at our annual rate and get a 10% discount!

John Fea   |  October 25, 2022

Did you know that Current patrons can now choose to support us annually or monthly? Click the red SUPPORT button to join us with an annual subscription, and get a 10% discount. Existing monthly subscribers who switch to an annual subscription can take advantage of […]

The Author’s Corner with Patrick Luck

Rachel Petroziello   |  October 25, 2022

Patrick Luck is Assistant Professor of History at Florida Polytechnic University. This interview is based on his new book, Replanting a Slave Society: The Sugar and Cotton Revolutions in the Lower Mississippi Valley (University of Virginia Press, 2022). JF: What […]

William & Mary’s monument to the enslaved

John Fea   |  October 24, 2022

More and more colleges and universities are coming to grips with their connections to slavery. Here is historian Jody Lynn Allen at Perspectives on History: In the 1930s, William & Mary (W&M) constructed a four-foot brick wall around the oldest […]

What is going on in Nashville? (And why didn’t I know Pat Sajak was the chair of the Hillsdale College Board of Trustees?)

John Fea   |  October 24, 2022

Over at Religion News Service, writer David Dark introduces us to the Nashville “Prayer Trade.” Here are some of the things I learned (or was reminded of) from the piece: Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs, and Steven Curtis Chapman were […]

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