If you have been reading Current this week you may have noticed that we featured an interview with historian Christopher Shannon and a review of his new book American Pilgrimage: A Historical Journey Through Catholic Life in a New World....
faith and history
Can “secular liberal historians” teach Christians about the Gospel?
Dan Williams is a Current contributing editor, an Anxious Bench contributor, and a professor of history at the University of West Georgia. In recent piece at the Anxious Bench, Williams reflects on all he has learned about his faith from...
Are you registered for the biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith History?
As president of the Conference on Faith and History, I invite all of you to Baylor University in Waco, TX from March 31-April 2, 2022 for our biennial meeting. Lisa Diller of Southern Adventist University has put together a great...
On John Wilsey’s review of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary church historian John Wilsey recently took a shot at Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne in a review published at a conservative website called Ad Fontes. Though Wilsey shows much more empathy than some...
Conference on Faith and History postpones biennial conference
From CFH president Beth Allison Barr: Dear CFH community, We have not released registration for the Baylor conference because circumstances changed this week. Although Baylor University is doing well in regards to keeping COVID numbers lower, Central Texas is not. In...
Fides et Historia seeks a book review editor
Fides et Historia is the academic journal of the Conference on Faith and History. The book review editor is responsible for producing 20–25 book reviews per issue for two annual issues. There is a longer, featured review at the beginning...
This Christian devotional, written by historians, will make a great Christmas gift!
I am honored to have contributed to this amazing devotional. My Conference on Faith and History colleagues Chris Gehrz and Beth Allison Barr are the editors. Here is a description from Baylor University Press: Join over forty Christian historians as...
Christian historians and the “imago Dei”
Earlier today I posted on the politicization of the Judeo-Christian belief that human beings are created in the image of God. In this post, I want to cover how a belief in the imago Dei informs how I do history....
Call for Papers: Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History
See below. I should add that I have not decided yet on the title of my presidential address. I will not be speaking on Believe Me. –JF Call for Papers, Conference on Faith and History Protest, Resistance and Transformation: Agents of...
N.T. Wright: We Have Created a Monster That Can Only Be Subdued by Love
I have been working through N.T. Wright‘s Gifford Lectures, published by Baylor University Press as History and Eschatology: Jesus and the Promise of Natural Theology. (Thanks to Byron Borger at Hearts & Minds Bookstore for bringing this book to my attention...
Conference of Faith and History Events Today
The Conference on Faith and History is sponsoring several events today at the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association. This morning at 8:30 the Conference will host its annual breakfast reception. There is no program for this event. Stop...
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...
The Author’s Corner with Randal Jelks
Randal Jelks is a Professor of American Studies and African and African American Studies at The University of Kansas. This interview is based on his new book Faith and Struggle in the Lives of Four African Americans (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019). JF:...
Watch the Plenary Lectures from the 2018 Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History
The biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History took place on October 3-6, 2018. I am honored to have served as the program chair for the meeting. Lectures by Margaret Bendroth, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Beth Allison Barr, and Jemar...
Reflections on the 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History
The 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History is over. As program chair, I spent most of the weekend pinch-hitting for folks who were unable to come and making sure our plenary speakers were comfortable. This is...
Will You Be Attending the Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History in October?
I hope so. October 4-6 in Grand Rapids, MI Our keynote speakers are Margaret Bendroth, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Beth Allison Barr, and Robert Orsi. Other historians on the program include: Joel Carpenter, John Woodbridge, Brad Gundlach, Steven Keillor, Timothy Hall, Ted...
The Making of a Christian Historian
Baylor University historian Barry Hankins tells his story: “I was born to be a point guard; but not a very good one.” I wish I had written that line. It certainly sums up my college basketball career. But as you...
Thoughts on Michael Gerson’s “The Last Temptation”: Part 2
Read Part 1 of this series here. Read Gerson’s Atlantic piece here. Anyone who reads my work knows that I am a big fan of George Marsden‘s essay “Human Depravity: A Neglected Explanatory Category” in Wilfred McClay’s ed., Figures in the Carpet: Finding...
Don’t Forget Your Conference on Faith and History Proposal
I am serving as the program chair for next Fall’s CFH meeting in Grand Rapids. I have posted the call for papers below. The deadline for proposals is March 15, 2018. Please consider submitting a paper or panel proposal! Whether...
The Secondary Teacher Initiative at the 2018 Conference on Faith and History
As you may know, I am chairing the program for the 2018 meeting of the Conference on Faith and History. We will be meeting October 4-6 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. You can see the Call for Papers...