Seventeen years ago I stood in this exact spot–only then, the gate was locked. I was 25 years old and working on my dissertation. I had been in England for about two months when I decided to find Lilleshall Abbey. I knew only ruins remained, courtesy of Henry VIII’s dissolution (1538) and the aftermath of […]
Losing Our (Medieval) Religion? The Cost of Not Teaching History….. Read More »
From the Anxious Bench Archives I went to a perfect wedding last weekend. It was deep in the rural heart of Central Texas. Wide open fields dotted with cattle and the occasional John Deer tractor were broken by scattered farm houses. The roads were narrow and dusty; population signs for the small towns counted inhabitants
The chair scraped next to me. It was 2:30 on Friday afternoon—time for our scheduled break. For three years I have been writing every Friday afternoon with a group of faculty women, blocking our calendars and ignoring emails. For three years I break with them for 15 minutes, pulling our chairs into a small circle.
Because We Have Made God Too Small: A Baylor Professor’s Apology to Kaitlin Curtice Read More »
It was Christmas, 1388, in Shrewsbury, a bustling market town far in the west of England. Winter frosted white the new timbers of the Bear Steps Hall, sparkling on the new glaze of the abbey’s west window, making even the centuries-old streets look new and fresh. Not much else was new in this old town,
I almost didn’t write this post. After all, what more could I say? Sarah Bessey already voiced my outrage. The scoffing laughter of John MacArthur’s audience echoed in my head as I read her words. “It’s a sin to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the lives of women. Repent, the
Pride and Preaching: A Medieval Perspective on John MacArthur Read More »
Today we welcome Otis W. Pickett and his colleague Brian Franklin as they share their thoughts on a history panel held at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. Otis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Political Science at Mississippi College. Brian Franklin is Associate Director of the Center
Presbyterians, Politics, And American Society: A Conversation With Historians In The PCA Read More »
A country church burned to the ground last week. Flames billowed over its wooden spires in a scene reminiscent of Notre Dame. But while stone defended the Parisian cathedral, the timber walls of the Church of the Visitation in Westphalia, Texas, didn’t stand a chance. Winds blustered that morning, fanning the fire and ensuring total
I am so pleased to welcome Dr. Melody Maxwell to the Anxious Bench today. Melody’s post today will add to our growing conversation on the Anxious Bench about how evangelicalism, at least in some ways, has evolved differently in Canada–first Chris Gehrz’s post on Hockey and the Future of Evangelicalism and second my recent post
South to North: More Things Southern Baptists Can Learn From Canadian Baptists Read More »
In fifteenth-century England, a (probably Franciscan) friar lived on the east coast near the cathedral city of Ely. Like many other medieval sermon authors, he included in his Lenten series a narrative from Matthew 15: the story of the Woman of Canaan. I have talked about this story before, and I am sure many of
Because Jesus Choosing Male Disciples Doesn’t Mean What We Think…. Read More »
Today we are so pleased to welcome Otis Pickett, an Assistant Professor of History at Mississippi College, to the Anxious Bench. Otis is also co-founder of the Prison to College Pipeline program. I recently came across a piece on Patheos by D.G. Hart entitled “#Woke Evangelical Timeline.” While I have tremendous respect for Hart as