I approach this subject with humility. Others—Black writers, theologians, and historians—have told this story with more authority and...

A preview for2025: We’re taking an easy approach this year. My work keeps me too busy to comfortably enjoy any complex builds.

Every empire believes it is special. But America’s conviction of chosenness came from a unique inheritance. The Puritans once believed...

When I began this project, I only had a hunch, something like a “Spidey sense” that America’s obsession with work, worth, and judgment...

The Puritans wanted to build a "city on a hill", but their blueprint also laid foundations for judgment, exclusion, and endless striving.

Before we critique Calvinism, we must also honor what it built: a work ethic, civic engagement, and respect for education that helped shape thriving communities, before judgment overtook compassion.

Biographies & Primary Sources on Oliver Cromwell Fraser, Antonia. Cromwell: Our Chief of Men . New York: Knopf, 1973. A comprehensive and...

In mid-1600s England, Oliver Cromwell tried to create a "godly" society by banning joy and enforcing moral order. His failure helped drive Puritan hopes to the New World.

Primary Sources & Historical Texts Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion . 1536. Translated by Henry Beveridge, 1845. This...

Before hustle culture, before American Exceptionalism, there was a 16th-century theologian trying to explain salvation. This article traces how John Calvin's ideas unintentionally planted the seeds of America's obsession with hard work, success, and moral judgment.