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Evangelical

Philip Jenkins

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January 2025

January 23, 2025

How NOT To Count American Religious Extremists

The current Atlantic has an interesting piece by Stephanie McCrummen with the scary title “The...

January 16, 2025

The Prophet Micaiah and Divine Deception

I offer a column on themes of deception, false identity, and the utter unreliability of...

January 09, 2025

Of Lone-Wolf Terrorists, Jihadis, and Nazis

After the recent horrors in New Orleans, we have heard a huge amount about lone...

January 02, 2025

Jimmy Carter and the Great Presidency That Never Was

In the wave of obituaries for Jimmy Carter, the common theme is that as president,...

December 2024

December 26, 2024

Unlock First-Class Learning: Discover BBC Sounds’ Religious Gems

Over the holiday, you might find some down time to listen to podcasts. If so,...

December 19, 2024

Gene Wolfe, James Hogg, and Two Brilliant Gothic Novels

I have a literary discovery to report, and I think I can claim a first...

December 12, 2024

Why Historians Really Need to Know About NGrams

I have posted quite often here on the theme of American empire throughout history, and...

December 05, 2024

How Missionaries Built A Modern American Empire

Empires are a very hot issue in historical scholarship right now, and missions and missionaries...

November 2024

November 28, 2024

How America’s Late Imperial Wars Reshaped Religion At Home

During the 1980s, Central America was the setting for brutal revolutions and civil wars that...

November 21, 2024

How Imperial Wars Drive Modern Religious Revolutions

My current work concerns the relationship between empires and the making and development of religion....

November 14, 2024

Informal Empire and the Making of American Religion

My current work involves the critical role of empires in making and reshaping the world’s...

November 07, 2024

Faith And Reconciliation After A Horribly Bitter Election

Did you hear about the election they just had in the US? It actually got...

October 2024

October 31, 2024

The Man Who Invented Folk Horror

The category of folk horror was first identified in the 1970s, and in recent years...

October 24, 2024

Cartoons, Caricatures, and Missionary Imperialism

In pretty much any period I write about, I try to use cartoons and caricatures...

October 17, 2024

How a Mediterranean Spiritual Movement Went Global

This column represents a contribution to Hispanic Heritage Month, and before anyone mentions it, I...

October 03, 2024

The River Empires of #VastEarlyAmerica

My present research involves the relationship between religion and American empire. Recently, I have been...

September 2024

September 26, 2024

The Faiths of #VastEarlyAmerica

As I outlined in my last post, contemporary scholarship on early America stresses its “vast”...

September 19, 2024

Empires and Religions in #VastEarlyAmerica

I have been posting on the religious dimensions of empire in American history, and I...

September 12, 2024

Freemasons, Catholics, and American Religious Politics

I posted last time about the importance of Freemasonry for understanding American history, American empire,...

September 05, 2024

American Empire: Take Up The White Mason’s Burden

I have written quite a bit on Freemasonry through the years, including several posts at...

August 2024

August 29, 2024

Born in Space: Empire and the Creation of American Religion

In recent years, American historians have reached a fair consensus that their nation’s history must...

August 22, 2024

American Empire: Settlers, Colonists, and Invaders

I have posted several items on the idea of empire as it applies to American...

August 15, 2024

Jews and Christians in Roman Palestine

Sometimes you think you know a story very well, and then you come across a...

August 08, 2024

American Empire and the Encounter with Islam

My last post explored how America’s imperial expansion reshaped its attitude to other religions, which...

August 01, 2024

American Empire, Voodoo, and Black Religion

Empires affect religions and religious life in many ways, often unintentional, and the American empire...

July 2024

July 25, 2024

How The American Empire Created Prophets and Messiahs

I have been working on the religious dimensions of American empire, and particularly some of...

July 18, 2024

Kingdoms Of This World

I’m delighted to announce the publication of my new book, Kingdoms of This World: How...

July 11, 2024

American Empire and American Religion

I have been working on the topic of empires and their religious dimensions, and my...

July 04, 2024

Israel, Protest, and a Democratic Party Meltdown?

A vast amount of coverage presently discusses the condition of Joe Biden and his likely...

June 2024

June 27, 2024

Who Are You Calling Palutian? On Writing Christian History

Around the year 200, Bishop Palut was an important leader of the church in Syria....