Shattering the Illusion, Part 1
When authorities in Montgomery, Alabama arrested Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white patron on December 1, 1955, African Americans in the city formed the Montgomery Improvement...
View ArticleShattering the Illusion, Part 2
We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and...
View ArticleBlack religion and Vietnam
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at Riverside Church in New York City. In his sermon (listen to it here) he publicly broke ranks with the policies of President Lyndon Johnson and the...
View ArticleMartin Luther King and the History of Religious Extremism
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” would make it on my list of must-reads for American cultural literacy. Written as he awaited release from a Birmingham, Alabama jail in 1963,...
View ArticleHeroes of the Faith: True, but not Accurate
Today at the Anxious Bench we welcome Bruce Berglund, professor of history at Calvin College. He is co-editor of the collection of essays, Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe. His book Castle...
View ArticleAre There Good Religious History Books for Children?
The children's religious book market is booming... so why are there so few good church histories and Christian biographies for those readers?
View ArticleMartin Luther King, Jr. and the Great Cloud of Witnesses
In MLK's 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail, we meet a man whose understanding of love, truth, justice, and sacrifice has been shaped by his study of the past.
View ArticleApril 4, 50 Years Out
Fifty years. Fifty years since the shot rang out. Since Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Over the years there has been a lot of reflection on the legacy of...
View ArticleA Hard Rain Fell: Robert Kennedy’s Assassination
The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy will always remain linked, and not just because they both occurred in the span of two months some fifty years ago this spring. The...
View ArticleThe Religious Left in Modern America
I’m pleased to welcome Doug Rossinow, a professor of history at the University of Oslo, to the Anxious Bench. In 1998 he wrote one of my all-time favorite books, a model piece of scholarship entitled...
View ArticleFifty Years Later… The Many Meanings of Apollo 11
Fifty years after Apollo 11 began its historic journey to the surface of the moon, Chris considers how observers at the time attached different religious, metaphysical, or moral meanings to the Space...
View ArticleThe Disenfranchisement of the American People
Among the many reasons to be bothered by Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud, it's especially galling to see a democratic election called into question the same year that Americans celebrate...
View ArticleHow Classics Liberated the Minds of the Oppressed
Guest blogger Anika Prather explains the liberating effects of the classics on Black leaders like Frederick Douglass and Anna Julia Cooper.
View ArticleBlack Subtext in Mr. Bojangles
Today we have the pleasure of having a guest contribution from Dr. Alicia Jackson. Dr. Alicia Jackson is an Associate Professor of History at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. She...
View ArticleKeep Hope Alive
During the month of April at the Anxious Bench, a number of our columnists are participating in a joint collaboration with the AACC (Asian American Christian Collaborative) to draw attention to the...
View ArticleDr. Martin Luther King’s Life in Christianity Today Magazine
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Christianity Today have a history together. Founded in 1956, Christianity Today established its footing in the same years as King, who became a public figure...
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