I recently weighed in (again) on the questions surrounding the debate over so-called Christian nationalism in the United States. The debate seems to overlap significantly with the question of populism and its relationship to religious life in the United States. One...
More Than Protestant, But Never Less Than Protestant: An Addendum to Timon Cline
Timon Cline has offered a very good piece at The American Reformer on the Protestant foundation of the states that formed the American Union in 1788. It’s a worthwhile piece that touches on a broad range of historical realities in the Early Republic. Cline...
The Fourth Way: The Promise of the Spanish Reformation
How the neglected Spanish Reformation charted a fourth way between Wittenburg, Geneva, and Canterbury.
The World the Reformation Made
There are many accounts of how the Reformation created the modern world. But what if they’re all wrong?
“The Most Biblicist National Culture in the World”
A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of Sam Goldman's very stimulating new book, After Nationalism. In the book, Goldman narrates three different conceptions of American national identity: the Covenant (c. 1630-1830), rooted in New England Protestant identity; the...
Why Protestants Convert, Pt. 5: A Way Forward
People have more than one reason (whether they know it or not) for changing their religious commitments. Conversion is usually a multilayered process. In this series, we have examined the (1) psychological, (2) theological, and (3) sociological dimensions of conversion.
Why Protestants Convert, Pt. 4: The Sociology of Conversion
Why do Protestants convert? The answer, as we’ve seen in our posts this fall, is complicated. It cannot be reduced to simple slogans or polemical talking points, and it calls for serious self-examination among Protestants
Why Protestants Convert, Pt. 2: The Psychology of Conversion
In understanding the draw of young evangelicals toward Rome, the proper place to start is where most conversions begin: in the soul.
Why Protestants Convert, Pt. 1: Conversionitis
Twenty-four years ago, at the opening of his classic work The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Mark Noll acidly remarked that “the scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.” Since that time, there have been plenty of signs of hope and improvement.