The course, Kingdom of God in America, explores the influence of theological ideas on social movements in America and such questions as: How do our ideas about God shape the way we engage the social order? What role do nineteenth century European and American Protestant theologies play in informing the American search for “beloved community”, which was the term Martin Luther King Jr. sometimes used interchangeably with the Kingdom of God? What are the social consequences of theological commitments? Read More

Conversations surrounding difficult moral issues like war and peace occur in most faith communities. The United Methodist Church is no exception as some followers remain devoted to nonviolence in spite of the many doctrines released by the community at large on the topic. In Practicing Discipleship, author Nicole Johnson interviews twelve of these believers committed to a nonviolent theology to understand how they defend and practice their convictions. Read More

We celebrated the publication of our new book Lived Theology: New Perspectives on Method, Style, and Pedagogy (October 2016, Oxford University Press) on November 19th at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) held this year in San Antonio, … Read More

As a teenager in south Alabama, Lewis had heard a radio broadcast of Martin Luther King’s sermon, “St. Paul’s Address to American Christians,” and was struck by the contrast between the Pike County preachers of his childhood, who spoke of … Read More

The end of the Civil War spurred many important beginnings, most notably the freedom of enslaved individuals and the founding of the black social gospel. In The New Abolition, author Gary Dorrien traces the tradition from its emergence in the nineteenth century to its champion in the twentieth century, W. E. B. Du Bois. Read More

At the Project this year, we want to celebrate Epiphany by imagining some gift-giving of our own. Read More

The Project on Lived Theology is now accepting applications for the 2016 Summer Internship in Lived Theology. Read More

Religion was largely ingrained into the identity and everyday existence of the nineteenth-century American woman, shaping the literature female authors produced. Nineteenth-Century American Women Write Religion examines this vast collection of fiction, political writings, poetry, and memoirs to explore the diversity of religious discourse of the time as told by authors, activists, and faith believers. Read More

It is our conviction that the patterns and practices of religious communities offer rich and generative material for theological inquiry and that, properly interpreted, the lived experiences of faith are communicative not only of a religious community’s collective self-understanding but of modes of divine presence as well. Bridging the gap between academia and the everyday, the Project further endeavors to demonstrate the importance of theological ideas in the public conversation about civic responsibility and social progress.

Founder and director Charles Marsh recently discussed these beginnings, influences, and goals of the Project with UVA Today. Read More

While the late 1800s brought a period of tremendous economic growth to the United States, this Gilded Age also revealed the extreme poverty and inequality suffered by the working class. In Union Made, author Heath W. Carter credits the beginnings of a new discipline– American Social Christianity– to these common laborers rather than the more often credited middle-class spiritual leaders of the day. Read More