Tag Archives: Christianity

Being a “Good Christian” at Bob Jones University

By Tim Morgan Christopher Peterman, a now-expelled 23-year-old Bob Jones University student, initially entered the conservative Christian institution embracing its strict rules. They were “exactly what he signed up for,” according to this news report. Ostensibly, he flouted a few … Continue reading

Posted in Religion and Popular Culture, Religion and Society, Tim Morgan | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Notes: Violence as Worship: Religious Wars in the Age of Globalization, by Hans G. Kippenberg (Stanford University Press, 2011)

By Ipsita Chatterjea In his latest book, Kippenberg argues analysis of religious violence should not seek to sanction the purity, authenticity or legitimacy of religious groups and deem others aberrant as this distorts our capacity to observe.  For Kippenberg, the mis-handling of … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Ipsita Chatterjea | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nazi Christianities

By Kate Dailey-Baley In my two previous Bulletin posts, I discussed the efforts of prominent Nazi intellectuals (such as Gerhard Kittel and Alfred Rosenberg) who, during the 1930s, worked to buttress the German Reich through the appropriation of Christian symbols, … Continue reading

Posted in Kate Daley-Bailey, Politics and Religion | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“Authentic Religion”: Meta-Narratives of Orthodoxy at the AAR/SBL Meeting

By Philip L. Tite This year’s annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) was a fun experience. I went through the typical routine of attending a smattering of sessions, connecting up … Continue reading

Posted in Editorial, Philip L. Tite, Religion and Theory, Theory and Method | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Religious Outsiders & the Air Force Academy

In this weekend’s Los Angeles Times, we learned that earlier this year, the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado “dedicated an $80,000 outdoor worship center [the Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle worship center] — a small Stonehenge-like circle … Continue reading

Posted in Kenny Paul Smith, Religion in the News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Picture Book: No Room at the Inn

I recently found the following image on the Fail Blog: I don’t know it’s provenance—it might have been photoshopped by an anti-Christian group. My guess, however, is that it is genuine. This is a provocative image. I don’t know quite … Continue reading

Posted in Craig Martin, Picture Book, Politics and Religion, Religion and Popular Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hitler, Religion, and the Bible

By Philip L. Tite In her recent blog on “The Curious Case of Gerhard Kittel,” Kate Daley-Bailey offers an important overview of the involvement of biblical scholars in promoting Nazi Germany’s anti-Jewish policies. Kate’s blog has inspired me to write … Continue reading

Posted in Philip L. Tite, Politics and Religion, Religion and Popular Culture, Religion and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Curious Case of Gerhard Kittel

By Kate Daley-Bailey On June 1st, 1933, New Testament Professor and Christian theologian, Dr. Gerhard Kittel (picture to the left) delivered a speech entitled Die Judenfrage, “The Jewish Question,” which was later published in a 78 page booklet. In Die … Continue reading

Posted in Kate Daley-Bailey, Politics and Religion, Religion and Popular Culture, Religion and Society | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

What’s In Your Bible?

In a recent piece for CNN’s religion blog, “Actually, that’s not in the Bible,” John Blake examines the ubiquity of “phantom scripture” in American Christian communities. By “phantom scripture” he means ideas, teachings, and passages that sound like they belong in the Bible–e.g., … Continue reading

Posted in Academy, Kenny Paul Smith, Pedagogy, Religion in the News, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Religious Essentialism

I spend a good bit of time in my courses trying to disrupt religious essentialism: the idea that all practitioners in a religious tradition share some essence, that such an essence determines their behavior, or that their beliefs are the … Continue reading

Posted in Craig Martin, Pedagogy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments