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How Religion Became More Conservative and Society More Secular

Evangelicalism and the more liberal “mainline” Protestantism must be understood in a dialectical relationship to one another, rather than in isolation.
Illustration of a Christian church cracking into two pieces.

A Religious Movement Divided Against Itself (Probably) Cannot Stand

Liberal Protestants built a global elite in the 20th century. Its fracturing holds a caution for evangelicals today.
Cover of "Speaking with the Dead in Early America" by Erik R. Seeman

Speaking with the Dead in Early America

A new book recovers the many ways Protestant Americans, especially women, communicated with the dead from the 17th century to the rise of séance Spiritualism.
Abolitionist political cartoon depicting the devil telling a slaveholder he is sinning.

How Antebellum Christians Justified Slavery

In the minds of some Southern Protestants, slavery had been divinely sanctioned.

Conversion and Race in Colonial Slavery

To convert was not just a matter of belief, but also a claim to power.
A 1902 football game mid-play, with men from both sides rushing at each other

God and the Gridiron Game

America's obsession with football is nearly as old as the game itself.
Lakewood megachurch.

Supersized Christianity: Protestant Megachurches in America

Megachurches represent an enduring model of ecclesial organization in Protestantism.
Book shelves full of books

Book Culture and the Rise of Liberal Religion

The rise of liberal religion in the United States.

How ‘Left Behind’ Got Left Behind

A changing political mood among evangelicals has many believers imagining the end of the world differently than they used to.
Photo of United States bill, saying "In God We Trust."

The Deep Religious Roots of American Economics

Any attempt to understand the complexities of American economic thought without considering the significant role of religious beliefs is incomplete.
Eugene V. Debs giving a speech on an American flag themed stage.

Did ‘Churchianity’ Sink American Socialism?

A new book blames institutional Protestantism for undermining a vibrant strain of Christian radicalism that swirled through the Gilded Age.
Election Day in Philadelphia, John Lewis Krimmel.

A More Imperfect Union: How Differing National Visions Divided the North and the South

On the fragile facade of republicanism in 19th century America.
A billboard next to a road that reads, "Hell is real."

How 19th-Century Spiritualists ‘Canceled’ the Idea of Hell to Address Social and Political Concerns

Spiritualists believed that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey and help those on Earth create a more just world.
The 1917 Silent Parade march in New York City protesting antiblack violence.

The Social-gospel Roots of Environmentalism

America's environmental movement has always been moralistic, which has made it bad at weighing tradeoffs. This accounts for its successes and also its failures.

Doing the Work

The Protestant ethic and the spirit of wokeness.
Abraham Lincoln.

Abe’s Ambitious Religious Creed

Through the tragedies and uncertainties of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln may have found a deepened connection to his religious faith.
A sign in Alabama reading "Thank God We Are Deplorable", 2018.

Christianity's Place in the Left and the Right

A conversation with historian David Hollinger about the rise of evangelicalism, the decline of mainline Protestantism, and the nature of America's secularism.
The cover of "Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History."

An “Imperial Bridge” Between Britain and the North American Colonies

How British protestantism connected colonies and empire until the rupture of the American Revolution.
Collage of a hand raised up toward major conservative Christian figures throughout American history.

The Evangelical Question in the History of American Religion

The disturbing conclusion might just be that evangelicalism does not exist.
Man holding bible outside Capitol with Trump supporters
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Christian Nationalism Is Surging. It Wasn’t Inevitable.

How the decline of liberal religion transformed American Christianity — and politics.
Painting of a Dutch merchant with his wife and an enslaved servants, standing on the shore with Dutch ships sailing in the background

The Legacies of Calvinism in the Dutch Empire

In the 17th century, Dutch proselytisers set out for Asia, Africa and the Americas. The legacy of their travels endures.
Lithograph of an armed mob attacking another group in the street.

The Philadelphia Bible Riots

The debate regarding which Bible kids should read in school was about whether Catholic immigrants should have the full rights of American citizenship.
Drawing of ailing person in bed with another person sitting in chair facing them

How Early Americans Narrated Disease

Early Americans coped with disease through narratives that found divine providence and mercy in suffering.
Worshipers at a Pentecostal church, Chicago, 1941

A Praise House of Many Mansions

In a book and documentary series, Henry Louis Gates Jr. offers a wide-ranging tour of Black religion in America.
Science under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America

Anti-Anti-Anti-Science

A new book tackles the deep and persistent American intellectual tradition we might call Science-hesitant.
A man standing at a crossroads holding an American flag.

The Wasting of the Evangelical Mind

The peculiarities of how American Christianity took shape help explain believers’ vulnerability to conspiratorial thinking and misinformation.
Map of Massachusetts colonial frontier

The “Indianized” Landscape of Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the inclusion of Native American names and places in local geography has obscured the violence of political and territorial dispossession.
Toy santa mug shots

The War on Christmas

A brief history of the Yuletide in America.
Drawing of pilgrims walking in a line in the snow.

Why the Puritans Cracked Down on Celebrating Christmas

It was less about their asceticism and more about rejecting the world they had fled.

In Defense of Kitsch

The denigration of kitsch betrays a latent anti-Catholicism, one born from centuries of class and ethnic divisions.

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