Signing the marriage contract by George Sheridan Knowles, 1905

Why Covenant Marriage Failed to Take Off

Three states have legalized covenant marriage, which makes divorce difficult. Why didn't it stick among communities preoccupied with family values?
Kimpa Vita and a map of Kongo

Did Kongolese Catholicism Lead to Slave Revolutions?

The legacy of Kimpa Vita, a Kongolese Catholic mystic, was felt from the U.S. to Haiti.
methodist religious revival

When Science and Religion Were Connected

During the Second Great Awakening of 1830, science and religion were seen as “two aspects of the same universal truth.”
anti-abolitionist cartoon

How Antebellum Christians Justified Slavery

After Emancipation, some Southern Protestants refused to revise their proslavery views. In their minds, slavery had been divinely sanctioned.
Bishop Michael Curry

Recognizing African Americans in the Anglican Church

At the royal wedding, bishop Michael Curry delivered a rousing address, calling attention to the African American experience in the Anglican Church.
Mary Queen of Scots

The Literary Propaganda Campaign Against Mary, Queen of Scots

May of 1568 was a fateful month for Mary, Queen of Scots. She managed to escape prison, but only to be being defeated in battle soon after. Then she made the fateful decision to run to England.
Oklahoma Sunday school class 1900

Where Sunday School Comes From

Sunday school was just one part of nineteenth century reformers’ efforts to improve children’s lives and morals in this period. But the mission of Sunday schools changed significantly over the years.
Molten lava erupts from Eyjafjallajokull, Fimmvorduhals, Iceland

Volcanoes, Climate Change, and The Birth of Christianity

The massive, deadly eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eldgjá in 10th century brought climate change and Christianity to the island colony.
Chapel

The Uncertain Future of the Religious Left

The aftermath of the 2016 U.S. election has renewed calls for an empowered coalition of religious liberals. Is there a place for the religious left?
AKM Adam

A.K.M. Adam and Postmodern Biblical Studies

Welcome to Ask a Professor, our series that offers an insider’s view of life in academia. This month we interviewed A.K.M. Adam.