What Does Democracy Require of Us?
On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln stood before the crowd at the United States capitol building to deliver his second inaugural address. Lincoln was addressing a nation nearing the conclusion of a long...
View Article“An Army of the Living God”: Stonewall Jackson’s Death and Southern Memory
This week marks the 150th anniversary of the tragic death on May 10, 1863, of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson from wounds sustained at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Along with Robert E. Lee, Jackson...
View ArticleDying the Modern Death
Welcome to this fourth installment of Death Wednesday here at the Anxious Bench. In my last post I described the nostalgic appeal of Trappist caskets and old-time burial practices at the bucolic Abbey...
View ArticleThe Politics of Faith during the Civil War
Timothy L. Wesley has just published a book called The Politics of Faith during the Civil War (LSU Press, 2013). I have no vested interest in this, except that Dr. Wesley is attached to the History...
View ArticleA Primer on the Southern Baptist Convention, Part 1
Next week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) will hold its annual meeting in Houston, TX. Over the last several decades, the SBC’s public profile has increased significantly due to the actions of...
View ArticleThe Bible, Slavery, and Sin
I have been reading Molly Oshatz’s thought-provoking new book Slavery and Sin: The Fight against Slavery and the Rise of Liberal Protestantism. Oshatz argues that the theological difficulties...
View ArticleA Primer on the Southern Baptist Convention, Part 1
From the Archive In light of the upcoming annual meeting of the largest (for now) Protestant denominations taking place in Baltimore, MD next week, it seemed appropriate to re-run my two-part series...
View ArticleLincoln’s Shrewd Sermon
Yesterday was the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration as President of the United States. On that date, Lincoln delivered an address that, while never quite rivaling the...
View ArticleDeath and Faith in the Civil War
In February of 1864, a Confederate officer named Franklin Gaillard received word of his father’s death. Gaillard was numb to death, having fought at Gettysburg the previous July. “It was the most...
View ArticleWhat Makes for the Best Historical Movies? (part 1)
How should we evaluate historical movies like Free State of Jones? (part 1 of 3)
View ArticleWhat Makes for the Best Historical Movies? (part 2)
Two more questions to ask of historical films: Are its makers actually interested in the past on its own terms? Are they provoking historical thinking?
View ArticleA Dispatch from Trump Country: The Past and Politics
For my fall sabbatical, my family has been blessed with the opportunity to spend four months living in one of the most beautiful parts of the country: the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia....
View ArticleUnexpected Sites of Christian Pacifism: Hacksaw Ridge and Adventism
The new Mel Gibson movie Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of a WWII medic named Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who participation in that war exemplifies the Adventist idea of "conscientious...
View ArticleThe Problems of Writing Biography (Part 1 – Empathy and Exoneration)
While some of my colleagues here have written excellent examples of the genre, I’ve never had much desire to write a biography. In fact, it had been a few years since I’d even read such a book. But...
View ArticleLincoln’s Thanksgiving: A Call to Gratitude, Humility, and Empathy
In the wake of a divisive election, we should revisit Abraham Lincoln's original 1863 proclamation of a national day of Thanksgiving. We'll find not only gratitude, but the virtues of humility and...
View ArticleAdventures in Parenting as a Historian: The American Girl Books
On seeing history through the eyes of a seven year old, as she reads American Girl books for the first time.
View ArticleBranching Paths and Alternate Histories
I have long valued Rick Perlstein as an excellent scholar of recent American history, chiefly working on the 1960s and 1970s. Based on his recent writings, I also see that he must be a superlative...
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