Curtis J. Evans

MA (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary)
PhD (Harvard University)

Curtis J. Evans is an historian of American religions. His teaching interests include modern American religion, social Christianity, race and religion, and the intersection of slavery and Christianity. His first book, The Burden of Black Religion (Oxford University Press, 2008), was an historical analysis of debates about the role of religion in the lives of African Americans and the historical origins of the category of "the black church." His research emphases are on interpretations and cultural images of African American religion, as well as the political, social, and cultural divisions in the US along the fault lines of race, religion, and social/cultural change. His published essays have appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Church History, Journal of Southern Religion, and Religion and American Culture. His most recent book, A Theology of Brotherhood: The Federal Council of Churches and the Problem of Race (New York University Press, 2024), examined the efforts of one prominent ecumenical Protestant organization to address racial oppression in the US before the emergence of the Civil Rights movement. Currently, he is working on a book project that examines rival visions of Christianity and ethical norms in theological and moral debates about slavery, the Christian Bible, and sources of religious authority in the antebellum period.