Gary Scott Smith on America as a Blessed But Not Chosen Nation – Thanksgiving 2019
Today is the last in the series of articles by historians posted during Thanksgiving week. I deeply appreciated the contributions of my distinguished friends and colleagues John Wilsey, Jared Burkholder, Barry Hankins, Andrew Mitchell, Fred Beuttler, and today Gary Scott Smith. Happy Thanksgiving! ……………………………. Dr. Gary Scott Smith formerly chaired the history department at Grove City College and is…
Read MoreBarry Hankins on America’s Perfect Civil Religion Holiday – Thanksgiving 2019
The third post today is a brief note from Barry Hankins. Hankins is Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of History and Resident Scholar, Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University. Christians can celebrate Thanksgiving by infusing it with all kinds of religious and national significance. But, people of other faiths…
Read MoreAndrew Mitchell: Reclaim the Spirit of Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving 2019
Today’s second guest post is from friend and Grove City College colleague Andrew Mitchell who is an associate professor of history at the college. Reclaim the Spirit of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is one of only two holidays Americans celebrate that consciously looks back to a colonial past. It also happens to be the only national holiday…
Read MoreJohn Wilsey on Thanksgiving and the Past as a Foreign Country – Thanksgiving 2019
Today’s first guest post is from John D. Wilsey. Wilsey is Associate Professor of Church History at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of One Nation Under God: An Evangelical Critique of Christian America and American Exceptionalism and Civil Religion: Reassessing the History of an Idea. One of the fascinating things about the…
Read MoreFred Beuttler on the First Federal Thanksgiving – Thanksgiving 2019
Today’s guest post is by Fred W. Beuttler, Ph.D., the former Deputy Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives. Fred is Associate Dean of Liberal Arts Programs at University of Chicago, Graham School. The First Federal Thanksgiving Today, November 26, 2019, marks the 230th anniversary of the first Federal Thanksgiving in 1789, “a day of…
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