Christianity Archives - Public Seminar

Capitalism

Peter Thiel and the Decline of the West

The last priest of a dead faith

September 24, 2025 • by Ahmed Bouzid

In the twilight of the secular Western project, as its elites scramble for a vision to forestall cultural entropy, Peter Thiel has emerged as one of its most articulate and celebrated prophets. In a remarkably candid interview with The New York Times, Thiel laments the stagnation of modern life—not just ...

History

“Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?”

An excerpt from American Relics and the Politics of Memory

April 24, 2023 • by Matthew Dennis

Relics’ ability to bridge space could match their facility in transcending time—they are conventionally transportable, sometimes through their fragmentation and multiplication, and their mobility enhances their usefulness to their possessors, who are thus able to deploy their power where they might have the greatest effect....

Religion

Why Christianity and the Fate of American Democracy Are Intertwined

An interview with intellectual historian David Hollinger

September 26, 2022 • by Claire Potter and David A. Hollinger

We're now confronted with a remarkable paradox. Our increasingly secular society is saddled with increasingly religious politics. Religion is ever-more prominent in Supreme Court decisions and in the statements that candidates for political office make. Politics are not only more religious, they are more Christian. ...

Past Present

Hillsong Church and Celebrity Christianity

Past Present Podcast, Episode 259

December 16, 2020 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Hillsong celebrity pastor Carl Lentz has come under fire for inappropriate behavior, including adultery. Natalia and Neil referred to Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s GQ profile of Lentz, and Neil discussed the history of the seeker-sensitive movement. Natalia referred to David French’s post ...

Hillsong Church and Celebrity Christianity

Democracy

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

This nomination brings a long-cherished Christian political project to fruition

October 15, 2020 • by Rose Thomas Bannister

I was taught at church, at school, and at home that America is a Christian nation. Judge Barrett has advocated against abortion rights, and she has two adopted children. I too was an adopted child, and in my unofficial career as a child preacher, I once sermonized that God had rescued ...

The Question About Religion Someone Should Have Asked Amy Coney Barrett

Feature

The Liberal Evangelists

Democrats are spreading the word of the religious left

March 30, 2019 • by John Stoehr

Every once in a great while, I write a strident piece exhorting cosmopolitan Democrats to talk about God and country with heart and guts. Some do, of course, but most don’t, because most tend to shy away from the meaty rhetoric of religion and patriotism. There are good reasons for ...

Feature

Like a Virgin?

The Medieval Origins of a Modern Debate

September 3, 2018 • by Katherine Harvey

Although well-behaved women seldom make history, they do sometimes make the news. Over the past few days, numerous news outlets have reported on a new Vatican ruling concerning consecrated virgins. These unmarried Catholic women, also known as ‘brides of Christ’, take a vow of chastity and perform various religious works, but do not ...

Feature

Anthony Bourdain, Family Values, and Ageism

Past Present Episode 136

June 26, 2018 • by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Nicole Hemmer and Neil J. Young

In this week's episode, Neil, Niki, and Natalia debate the legacy of Anthony Bourdain, the end of “family values” conservatism, and ageism as a form of discrimination. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: The late Anthony Bourdain helped define the now familiar figure of the “celebrity chef.” ...