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Picture of John D. Wilsey

John D. Wilsey

John D. Wilsey is Associate Professor Church History and Philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Research Fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy.

Ronald Regan

Ronald Reagan: An Imperfect, Indispensable Leader

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In his new book, William Inboden clearly regards Reagan as indispensable to something coming close to a miraculous chain of events surrounding the peaceful end of the Cold War. He rejects the popular notions of Reagan as clueless, all form and no substance, gullible, or hopelessly and sentimentally patriotic. This is a sympathetic biography, but one that is copiously researched and laden with fresh and insightful nuances that treat Reagan as a complex figure, a man with limitations, paradoxes, and weaknesses.
American flag with LGBT colors

Progressive Nationalism

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Today’s progressive nationalism is secular, yet it also relies on popular adherence to the civil religion of the left. There are two prominent manifestations of this civil religion—critical race theory’s (CRT) philosophy of history and the LGBTQ movement’s anthropology. We see evidence of this secularized-yet-religious nationalism in many places—media, bureaucracy, Hollywood—but perhaps it is most readily apparent in education.

A City upon a Hill: Nationalism, Religion, and the Making of an American Myth

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In his new book, Daniel T. Rodgers argues that the myth inspired by John Winthrop’s famous seventeenth-century “city upon a hill” metaphor was actually a product of the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States in the Cold War. Winthrop’s sermon was largely forgotten until it was put to use for nationalistic purposes to inspire the nation against global Communism.

Is Medieval Christianity the Solution to the Crisis of American Protestantism?

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A new book seeks to diagnose the ills of contemporary Protestantism and, with help from C.S. Lewis, prescribes a course of treatment drawn from the rich history of Christianity.

Recovering America’s Vital Center: Between Religious Nationalism and Radical Secularism

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The antidote to hyper-partisanship is a recovery of America’s tradition of civil religion. A new book by Philip Gorski takes up this difficult and subtle project.
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