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	<title>Anxious Bench</title>
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	<description>The Relevance of Religious History for Today</description>
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		<title>Cracking Cascarones in a Cemetery</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/cracking-cascarones-in-a-cemetery/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/cracking-cascarones-in-a-cemetery/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Verónica A. Gutiérrez]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:17:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Catholicism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Easter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mexican Americans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mexicans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Verónica A. Gutiérrez]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=127335</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Author’s children cleaning their grandfather’s headstone We walked gingerly over the browning grass and the clumps of disturbed desert clay, careful not to disrespect the dead buried below. At our designated plot, we unfurled a blue outdoor blanket onto which two of my children knelt, spray bottle and dust rag in hand. As they cleaned [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Exit, Pursued by Theosophists</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/exit-pursued-by-theosophists/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/exit-pursued-by-theosophists/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 04:55:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[esoteric movements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theosophy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126565</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Shakespeare has the legendary stage direction “Exit, pursued by a bear.” My own version of that in my scholarly work has been, “Write, pursued by Theosophists.” In my last few books, I have found Theosophy and Theosophists cropping up in so many different topics, and often, unexpectedly central to that subject, and above all in [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>The Fall of the American Gideon</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/the-fall-of-the-american-gideon/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/the-fall-of-the-american-gideon/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Michael Jimenez]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Apr 2026 06:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Cesar Chavez]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latin American Religious History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latino Americans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mexican Americans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicano history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmworkers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hegel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Latino history]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=127282</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[“It became a snare to Gideon and to his house” Judges 8:27 I debated for a couple of weeks whether or not to address the startling allegations against UFW labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez, who I have written about multiple times in the last two years at the Anxious Bench and in other essays. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Updating the Readings: Recent Books on Women and the Church</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/updating-the-readings-recent-books-on-women-and-the-church/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/updating-the-readings-recent-books-on-women-and-the-church/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lynneth Renberg]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 06:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Christian life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lynneth Miller Renberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reading]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[women]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women in Ministry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women's and Gender Studies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Church History]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Women in the Church]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=127237</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I’ve not been thinking a lot about teaching this year– while in Norway on a grant, I’ve been immersed in reading, learning, and writing for my third book. But I got an email this week that reminded me that while the fall semester might still feel distant, it will be here before I know it. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			</item>
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		<title>Ray Bradbury&#8217;s Great Christian Story</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/ray-bradburys-great-christian-story/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/04/ray-bradburys-great-christian-story/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:29:49 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[C.S. Lewis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ray Bradbury]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[science fiction]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126922</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I have a dilemma. I want to share my enthusiasm for a literary work that I regard as a really significant piece of Christian writing, which might even be a key piece of evangelism in its own right, but I can’t do that properly without revealing major spoilers, which concentrate heavily in the last few [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
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		<title>Letters of Recommendation: The Last of the Correspondence?</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/letters-of-recommendation-the-last-of-the-correspondence/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/letters-of-recommendation-the-last-of-the-correspondence/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Lisa Clark Diller]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2026 11:31:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=127084</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[  I wrote recently about the importance of letters as a form of evidence for historians. Letters allow for someone to decide reflectively what to say and how to say it their particular audience. There is a time delay that forces a bit more narrative. Of course, letters make assumptions about what the recipient knows [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Foundations of Re-Enchantment</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/the-foundations-of-re-enchantment/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/the-foundations-of-re-enchantment/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[guest post]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chrs Coome]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freemasonry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theosophy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126493</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I recently came across a book that resonated with so many of my interests! This was The Foundations of Re-Enchantment: Freemasonry, Theosophy, and the Occult Revival, by Christopher Coome. Those Masonic and Theosophical themes have been of interest to me for a great many years, but especially right now with my work on America in [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Preserving the Past</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/preserving-the-past/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/preserving-the-past/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Joey Cochran]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 06:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126862</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I love working with primary sources. I love collecting primary sources. On my current book project, Our God Is an Awesome Brand (Brazos, 2027), I have had the pleasure of collecting and preserving a handful of books (some pictured below). When I first started collecting antiquarian sources, I didn’t really know a whole lot about [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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			<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		
		
			</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Doing History in Seminaries (and Everywhere) is Hard</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/why-doing-history-in-seminaries-is-hard/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/why-doing-history-in-seminaries-is-hard/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jacob Randolph]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2026 21:35:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Jacob Randolph]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pluralism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pope Leo XIV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seminary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[historiography]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[performativity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ploarization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presentism]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126847</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[“I sat in my car and cried for ten minutes before driving home.” That’s what a student in my class said while recounting their time at the Baptist church down the road from her house. They’d attended a worship service as part of an assignment for my class. Students were meant to observe a Christian [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<item>
		<title>The Laboratories of American Religion</title>
		<link>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/the-laboratories-of-american-religion/</link>
					<comments>https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2026/03/the-laboratories-of-american-religion/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:19:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Philip Jenkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adventists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cults]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swedenborgians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theosophy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Unitarians]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/?p=126109</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In 1932, Louis Brandeis offered a brilliant justification for American federalism when he remarked that the states are the “laboratories of democracy.” The states can try things out, and if they work, they are adopted on the national stage, and they become so obvious and commonplace that people forget they ever originated at regional level. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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