Dr. Matt Bowman, professor of history at Henderson State University, will present a paper at the Society for the U.S. Intellectual History annual meeting in Dallas Oct. 26-28.
The conference brings together scholars from all periods of U.S. intellectual history.
Bowman’s paper is entitled Robert Bellah and the Cults and is drawn from his upcoming manuscript, Christian: The Politics of a Word in America. The paper looks at Robert Bellah, who did a great deal to popularize the notion of “civil religion” in 20th century America.
The paper focuses on Bellah’s critique of what he called “cults,” including groups like the Unification Church, the Children of God, and others that claimed to be Christian, but which Bellah attacked with great castigation.