In the News
I regularly contribute to other publications, including Jim Wallis' God's Politics" blog on Beliefnet. And, over the last few months, a number of major new stories have appeared about my new book and my recent research project. Below are some links to things I've written or that have been written about my work.
GodComplex Radio interview with Diana
From GodComplexRadio:
[Diana] will be discussing a church for the rest of us, as well as, her new book "A People's History of Christianity." The music will be provided by The Church of the Beloved.
6/15/2009 12:00 PM - 1 hr 30 min
Diana on Interfaith Voices (full interview)
From Interfaith Voices:
Christian history is often told from the point of view of the winners, as a tale of victory, military force and conquest. Historian Diana Butler Bass calls it “Big C Christianity,” and she says there's another side to the story. This week, she surveys Christian history from the bottom up, told through the eyes of maverick monks, gutsy women and peace-loving church-goers.
Date: 13 May 2009
Day1.org interviews Diana
View recent videos from Day1.org's interview with Diana:
- Contemporary History and Christianity
- Past, Future, and Christianity
- History of Christianity - Prominent Progressive Christians
- Decline of the Church
TheOoze.tv interviews Diana Butler Bass
"History is to a country (or spiritual community or denomination) what memory is to an individual. And loss of memory is a tragedy and ultimately, fatal. Diana Butler Bass, in her new book, A People’s History of Christianity, seeks to capture the history, the memory of Christianity. She talks with host Spencer Burke about the history of Christianity-using a different framework than most contemporary historians. Their framework, which may be true but perhaps with some gaps that need to be filled in, tells the history via the 'big Cs'-Christ, Constantine, Christendom, Crusades, Calvin, and Christian America."
Audio and Video of the Sunday Forum at the National Cathedral are online
Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III hosts Diana Butler Bass in a discussion on “A People’s History of Christianity.”
Sunday, March 8, 2009.
Audio: MP3
Video: WMV
A People's History is an April 2009 Indie Next List Notables pick
From the American Booksellers Association:
The April 2009 Indie Next List Preview
March 04, 2009
Here's a preview of the April Indie Next List, now on its way to ABA member stores in the IndieBound movement.
Nonfiction
A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass (HarperOne, $25.99, 9780061448706 / 0061448702)
USA Today forum: Are mainline faiths dying?
Earlier this month, Diana hosted a forum at USAToday.com, called "Are mainline faiths dying?"
Statistically, the mainline has declined by the millions in recent decades. But church historian Diana Butler Bass makes a contrary case: That it is thriving despite the odds. She once told me, "Mainline congregations have a beautiful world where they are enacting service, doing justice, learning to pray and caring for one another. And no one seems to realize they are there."
Library Journal starred review
What an exciting book: a history, modeled somewhat after the methodology of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, that focuses "on the moments when Christian people really acted like Christians, when they took seriously the call of Jesus to love God and love their neighbors as themselves." Columnist and teacher Bass (senior fellow, Cathedral Coll. of the Washington National Cathedral; Strength for the Journey), who has a Ph.D. in church history, calls this book's narratives "usable history, stories told for the purpose of strengthening community by deepening its spiritual practices and renewing its vision of social justice." She divides Christian history into five major parts: "The Way (100–500 C.E.)," "The Cathedral (500–1450)," "The Word (1450–1650)," "The Quest (1650–1950)," and "The River (1945-Now)." For each period, she discusses the embodiment of the titular theme, devotion, and ethics. These divisions emphasize what people, known and relatively unknown, actually did in worship and in attempting to live the Gospel. This easily read book encourages Christian activism, inclusivity, and transformed hope that can be lived. Highly recommended for seminary, public, and undergraduate libraries.—Carolyn M. Craft, emerita, Longwood Univ., Farmville, VA
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