Sex (No!), Drugs (No!), and Rock and Roll (Yes!)
In the 1980s and 1990s, Christian heavy metal bands used head-banging music to share the politics and values of evangelical Christians with America’s youth.
Wild Saints and Holy Fools
Early Christian writers valorized the desert life of ascetic monks, but the city also had something to offer would-be “fools for Christ”.
The Metaphysical Story of Chiropractic
Chiropractic medicine began as a practice built on an approach to the human condition that was distinctly opposed to Christianity.
Himmelsbriefe: Heaven-Sent Chain Letters
For more than a thousand years, people have used letters allegedly written by Christ as both doctrinal evidence and magical charms.
The Myth of the Papal Toilet Chair
Legend holds that newly elected popes in the Middle Ages had to present their genitals for inspection to confirm that they were male.
Visiting Christ’s Prison Cell
After Christian crusaders captured Jerusalem, the Prison of Christ featured on pilgrims' itineraries. But was Christ actually ever imprisoned there?
Unmaking a Priest: The Rite of Degradation
The defrocking ceremony was meant to humiliate a disgraced member of the clergy while discouraging laypeople from viewing him as a martyr.
Women’s Search for Women Leaders in the Early Church
Some nineteenth-century women writers argued that the first Christians included women who were close to Paul—and maybe apostles themselves.
The Conservative Christian War on Rock and Roll
Tracing an early front in the culture wars to a trio of evangelical opponents of rock music in the 1950s and '60s.
Why Did Christianity Thrive in the U.S.?
Between 1870 and 1960, Christianity declined dramatically across much of Europe. Not in America. One historian explains why.