A historian wrote once that “[w]e cannot understand American history unless we reckon with the ways religion and war have reinforced and challenged each other.” We are going to dip our toes into that water today, and while we are at it, will run into the idea of “Christian nationalism” – a topic currently bouncing around in our public square. This hour has the potential of helping our listeners be more effective in their efforts to push the American experiment in self-government along.

Dr. Benjamin Wetzel is an Assistant Professor of History at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Previously he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism. Dr. Wetzel received his PhD in History in 2016 from the University of Notre Dame and is the author of two books: American Crusade: Christianity, Warfare, and National Identity, 1860-1920 (the topic of today’s interview) and Theodore Roosevelt: Preaching from the Bully Pulpit.