Then and Now: A New Weekly Feature by American Religious Historians
Paul Harvey
This new weekly feature, edited by Edward J. Blum, harnesses the expertise of American religious historians who care about the cities of God and the cities of humans. It’s a space where scholarly expertise collides with the faith, hope and love of those of us who seek thoughtful reflection about our pasts to bear upon the confusing issues of our presents.
Remember the Weekly Reader that you had in grade school? Now you grown-up religious historians have one, in this new blog, at the Christian Century, hosted by Ed Blum and featuring a roster of good folks. Here's a bit from the first entry, a gentle manifesto for the new venture:
To use history poorly is to abuse it and the people who still suffer from its burdens. It is also to remain in a darkness of one’s own choosing and making. But history can be helpful. Approached from an effort to honor life and to transform ourselves for the better, history can be a dear friend and informative ally. The point of these weekly entries will be to understand the historical roots of contemporary problems, the roads taken or the avenues neglected in the past, and how thinking responsibly about the past can provide us better information for our spiritual lives today.
I've linked it on our "blogfavs" over on the right, so check it out. Oh, by the way, the Weekly Reader was just taken over in a hostile buy-out bid by Scholastic, the publisher behind the Harry Potter franchise. Price: somewhere between $10 and $20 million. I hear Scholastic's next target is Ed's new blog. But Ed will stand firm; I know he would not sell out for that or any other price.
This new weekly feature, edited by Edward J. Blum, harnesses the expertise of American religious historians who care about the cities of God and the cities of humans. It’s a space where scholarly expertise collides with the faith, hope and love of those of us who seek thoughtful reflection about our pasts to bear upon the confusing issues of our presents.
Remember the Weekly Reader that you had in grade school? Now you grown-up religious historians have one, in this new blog, at the Christian Century, hosted by Ed Blum and featuring a roster of good folks. Here's a bit from the first entry, a gentle manifesto for the new venture:To use history poorly is to abuse it and the people who still suffer from its burdens. It is also to remain in a darkness of one’s own choosing and making. But history can be helpful. Approached from an effort to honor life and to transform ourselves for the better, history can be a dear friend and informative ally. The point of these weekly entries will be to understand the historical roots of contemporary problems, the roads taken or the avenues neglected in the past, and how thinking responsibly about the past can provide us better information for our spiritual lives today.
I've linked it on our "blogfavs" over on the right, so check it out. Oh, by the way, the Weekly Reader was just taken over in a hostile buy-out bid by Scholastic, the publisher behind the Harry Potter franchise. Price: somewhere between $10 and $20 million. I hear Scholastic's next target is Ed's new blog. But Ed will stand firm; I know he would not sell out for that or any other price.
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