A reader sends this along. I think it sums up the troubling moral contradiction at the heart of American politics today. I also recommend Lisa and David Swartz’s political sign photo essay from Wilmore, Kentucky.
David Swartz
When progressive evangelicals held the national stage
Over at Sojourners, American religious historian Randall Balmer traces the history of progressive evangelicalism in the 1970s. Here is a taste of “Before the Religious Right, Progressive Evangelicals Gained the National Spotlight“: Richard Nixon’s promise of a “secret plan” to […]
The Pot-Smoking Dutch Calvinists Who Stopped “worshipping the Ph.D.” and Gave Their Students “guerrilla credentials.”
I don’t pretend to know much about Dutch Calvinism in America or the differences between Abraham Kuyper and Herman Dooyeweerd. (There are good books on the subject, I would start with the work of James D. Bratt). But I know […]
Do Evangelicals Care What I Think About Trump?
Historian David Swartz does not think so. Here is Swartz at The Anxious Bench: White evangelicals are doubling down on President Donald Trump. Their choices in 2016—Trump or Clinton—may have been distasteful to them then. But in 2019, their taste for […]
Jim Wallis: “Trump is operating in the spirit of the anti-Christ”
Jim Wallis, the progressive evangelical leader of Sojourners, recently said in an interview with Publishers Weekly that Donald Trump “is operating in the spirit of anti-Christ.” (Wallis was discussing the themes of his new book Christ in Crisis : Why We Need […]
Progressive Evangelicals Revive the 1973 Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern
In 1973, a group of evangelical leaders gathered at the YMCA on Wabash Avenue in Chicago to affirm the Christian call to racial justice, care for the poor, peace, and equality for women. The result of this meeting was The […]
David Swartz on Jimmy Carter’s “Malaise” Speech
Over at The Conversation, David Swartz, a historian of the evangelical Left, has a nice piece on Jimmy Carter’s 1979 “malaise” speech. Here is a taste: It was a penetrating cultural critique that reflected Carter’s spiritual values. Like the writers […]
“We Need a Revival”
We linked to his “Photo Essay” on Wednesday. Today we want to call your attention to David Swartz‘s report from Liberty University and the Red Letter Revival. Swartz visited both this past weekend. Here is a taste of his piece […]
David Swartz’s Photo Essay of the Red Letter Revival in Lynchburg
Asbury University historian David Swartz not only covered the progressive evangelical Red Letter Revival event, but he also took a tour of Liberty University. Check out his photo essay at The Anxious Bench.
Why John Wesley Opposed the American Revolution
During last weekend’s #ChristianAmerica? tweetstorm I wrote: John Wesley smelled hypocrisy. Colonists said they were enslaved by Britain, yet owned African slaves. #ChristianAmerica? #4thofJuly — John Fea (@JohnFea1) July 3, 2017 Of course it is difficult to capture the nuance of […]
"The Mystery of the Liberal Arts"
Earlier this week I gave a short talk to the members of the Messiah College Admissions staff during their Fall retreat. I spoke about the value of history and the humanities and hopefully gave them something to think about as […]
Jimmy Carter for President!
No, this isnt’s some weird flashback from 1976 or 1980. The title of my post comes from David Swartz’s recent piece at The Anxious Bench: “J.C. Can Save America.” When Swartz, the author of Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in […]
Is Rand Paul a Pacifist?
Rand Paul is out of the presidential race, but he is still a United States Senator from Kentucky. He is also historian David Swartz‘s Senator. Swartz, the author of the excellent Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism, […]
The Anabaptist Turn in American Evangelical Historiography
In some respects we are all Anabaptists these days–at least those of us who are bothered by the way politicians tend to conflate the church and the United States of America. I don’t know what the prevalence of Christian nationalism […]
David Swartz Puts the InterVarsity Support of #blacklivesmatter in Historical Perspective
Last week we did a post on InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s recent embrace of the #blacklivesmatter movement. Over at The Anxious Bench, David Swartz, the author of Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism, has provided some historical context to […]
Schrag Lecture Recap
David Swartz David Swartz’s Schrag Lecture on Thursday night was very well-received by the 70+ members in attendance in Messiah College‘s Alexander Auditorium. Swartz’s lecture, “Anabaptists, Evangelicals, and the Search for a Third Way in Post-War America,” focused on some of […]