Illustration by Elizabeth Kaye / Source Images: Getty, WikiMedia Commons
20 Black Leaders Who Inspired the Church
African American Christians reflect on Rebecca Protten, Vernon Johns, and other thinkers who influenced their faith.
Looking Past Bell Bottoms, Beads, Coffeehouses, and Communes
In 1971, CT said the Jesus People were not just another baby boomer fad.
Tearing Apart ‘The Old Thread-bare Lie’
Black journalist Ida B. Wells exposed Southern lynching.
What CT Asked Advice Columnist Ann Landers
As America teetered on the edge of revolution, the magazine called for more innovation, responsibility, sensitivity, and stewardship.
Disillusioned at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius
CT helped readers make sense of wild cultural changes in 1969.
Today in Christian History
February 12
February 12, 1663: Congregational minister Cotton Mather is born in Boston. The most celebrated New England writer of his day, he was a scientist (whose work included early studies of inoculation), one of the founders of Yale University, and pastor of Boston’s Second Church (just as his father, Increase Mather, had been). He also wrote Wonders of the Invisible World, a description of the Salem witch trials(see issue 41: American Puritans).
February 12, 1809: Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States and author of the Emancipation Proclamation, is born near Hodgenville, Kentucky (see issue 33: Christianity and the Civil War).
Looking Past Bell Bottoms, Beads, Coffeehouses, and Communes
In 1971, CT said the Jesus People were not just another baby boomer fad.
Tearing Apart ‘The Old Thread-bare Lie’
Black journalist Ida B. Wells exposed Southern lynching.
What CT Asked Advice Columnist Ann Landers
As America teetered on the edge of revolution, the magazine called for more innovation, responsibility, sensitivity, and stewardship.
Disillusioned at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius
CT helped readers make sense of wild cultural changes in 1969.
People in Christian History
Dorothy Sayers
Mystery writer and apologist
Augustine of Hippo
Architect of the Middle Ages
C.S. Lewis
Scholar, author, and apologist
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
German theologian and resister
Athanasius
Five-time exile for fighting “orthodoxy”
Harriet Tubman
The “Moses” of Her People
Catherine Booth
Compelling preacher and co-founder of the Salvation Army
William Wilberforce
Antislavery politician
John Knox
Presbyterian with a sword
Dwight L. Moody
Revivalist with a common touch
Billy Graham
Evangelist to millions
Thomas à Kempis
Author of the most popular devotional classic
Perpetua
High society believer
Justin Martyr
Defender of the “true philosophy”
John of the Cross
Spanish mystic of the soul’s dark night
Teresa of Avila
Carmelite mystic and feisty administrator
Oswald Chambers
Preacher who gave his utmost
Joan of Arc
The courageous and controversial teenager who saved her country
Søren Kierkegaard
Christian existentialist
Through a Storm of Violence
In 1968, CT grappled with the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.
Once Lost, Then Found, Then Judged
History is full of Christians trying to figure out if other Christians really experienced the saving work they say they did.
When the Times Were ‘A-Changin’’
CT reported on 1967 “message music,” the radicalism on American college campuses, and how the Six-Day War fit into biblical prophecy.
Evangelism and All That Jazz
In 1966, CT reported on church activities but also on LSD, The Beatles, and the war in Vietnam.
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A Time of Moral Indignation
CT reports on civil rights, the “death of God” theology, and an escalating conflict in Vietnam.
The Story Behind Handel’s ‘Messiah’
Meet the unlikely characters who defined this musical classic.
The Call to Art, Africa, and Politics
In 1964, CT urged Christians to “be what they really are—new men and women in Christ.”
‘A Shot Came Out of Nowhere’
CT reported on the assassination of a president, a Supreme Court ban on Bible-reading in schools, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
‘Saint Nicholas Is Our Guy’
A conversation with printmaker Ned Bustard on what traditions teach about the joy of generosity.
From Outer Space to Rome
In 1962, CT engaged friends and enemies in the Cold War and the Second Vatican Council.
New Frontiers in 1961
CT considered paperback books, the Peace Corps, and the first man in space.
Evangelicals Confront a Revolutionary Age
A Catholic on the campaign trail and the “possibly catastrophic character of what is happening under our eyes” caused deep concern in 1960.
Why CT Was Skeptical of Cold War Calls for Peace
In 1959, evangelicals looked to political leaders to hold up America’s great spiritual heritage as responses to the Soviet Union divided Christians.
From Prohibition to Pornography
In 1958, CT pushed evangelicals to engage important moral issues even when they seemed old-fashioned.
Highlights and Lowlights of 1957
In its first full year of publication, CT looked at Civil Rights, Cold War satellites, artificial insemination, and carefully planned evangelism.
How ‘Christianity Today’ Reported News and Offered Views, 1956–2026
A new series: Walking Through 70 Years.