Ahead of next month's annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham, Alabama, the denomination has released its Annual Church Profile showing that the membership of its churches has dropped to 14.8 million, the lowest it has been since 1987. A report published Friday by Christianity Today draws on data from the General Social …
Category: Samford University
Naming the Study of Religion
The name of my academic department has changed for at least the fifth time in its history. Last week Samford University announced that the Department of Religion would now be known as the "Department of Biblical and Religious Studies." One reason for the change is that the department has added a major in biblical studies …
Hamilton and Civil Religion
"Civil Religion and the Phenomena of Hamilton" by Emily Jenkins (Samford University, class of 2018) was published in the spring 2019 issue of the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa. Jenkins argues that the popularity of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton is due in part to the way the musical frames Alexander Hamilton's life through the ideology of …
Samford’s Gate: Baptists and the Bible
When introducing students to Judaism, one text I always discuss is the Shema, the passage of the Torah that is the centerpiece of Jewish daily prayer. It begins at Deuteronomy 6:4 with the words "Shema yisrael," or in English, "Hear O Israel." It then continues The Lord is our God, the Lord is One. You shall …
Slavery, “Servants,” and Samford
In the middle of Samford University's campus, at the head of Centennial Walk, just below Davis Library, a black stone marker is set in the pavement. It reads: In MemoriamHarryThis marker honors the memory of Harry, college janitor and servant of President Talbird. At midnight, October 15, 1854, he sustained fatal injuries as he roused …
Shades Creek History and Samford’s Campus
Last winter I enjoyed enjoyed sharing my research on the development of Samford's Lakeshore campus with Marjorie White, the historical society's long-time leader and one of the book's principal authors. I can't wait to read the finished product.
