Christopher Jones
@ccjones.bsky.social
Historian of religion, race, + society.
Editor, Journal of Mormon History.
Co-editor, Missionary Interests: Protestant + Mormon Missions in the 19th + 20th Centuries (Cornell UP, 2024).
Currently researching global history of religion + soccer.
Editor, Journal of Mormon History.
Co-editor, Missionary Interests: Protestant + Mormon Missions in the 19th + 20th Centuries (Cornell UP, 2024).
Currently researching global history of religion + soccer.
(Go Jays, btw. My childhood best friend is their Minor League hitting coach, and has worked with/mentored several of the guys on the big league roster.)
November 2, 2025 at 3:54 AM
(Go Jays, btw. My childhood best friend is their Minor League hitting coach, and has worked with/mentored several of the guys on the big league roster.)
Reposted by Christopher Jones
Utah Valley University - Faculty - Assistant Professor - U.S. History | H-Net
networks.h-net.org
October 29, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Anyway, that’s my annual Gordon Wood rant of 2025. See you next year. /end
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Anyway, that’s my annual Gordon Wood rant of 2025. See you next year. /end
Wood wants a useable past in much the same way that the “presentist” historians he critiques do. But his vision is one that privileges traditional political history and that focuses on national origins and characteristics. What he doesn’t realize is that that isn’t as useable for everyone. 5/
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Wood wants a useable past in much the same way that the “presentist” historians he critiques do. But his vision is one that privileges traditional political history and that focuses on national origins and characteristics. What he doesn’t realize is that that isn’t as useable for everyone. 5/
As he put it in a 2021 interview, “we focus on the founders” because “If we didn’t have these principles embodied in these documents, I’m not sure how we [that is, 21st century Americans] would hold together.” 4/
albertmohler.com/2021/10/06/g...
albertmohler.com/2021/10/06/g...
A New Order of the Ages Indeed: A Conversation With Historian Gordon S. Wood About the U.S. Constitution and the American Revolution - AlbertMohler.com
Cultural commentary from a Biblical perspective
albertmohler.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
As he put it in a 2021 interview, “we focus on the founders” because “If we didn’t have these principles embodied in these documents, I’m not sure how we [that is, 21st century Americans] would hold together.” 4/
albertmohler.com/2021/10/06/g...
albertmohler.com/2021/10/06/g...
Privileging “the origins of the United States” as the “historical GPS” of what we call “early American history” is itself demanding a useable past. It is presentism, though Wood will never admit as much.
Indeed, focusing solely on national origins undermines historical contingency. 3/
Indeed, focusing solely on national origins undermines historical contingency. 3/
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Privileging “the origins of the United States” as the “historical GPS” of what we call “early American history” is itself demanding a useable past. It is presentism, though Wood will never admit as much.
Indeed, focusing solely on national origins undermines historical contingency. 3/
Indeed, focusing solely on national origins undermines historical contingency. 3/
In his now infamous 2015 Weekly Standard essay, Wood complained that the William & Mary Quarterly “no longer concentrates exclusively on the origins of the United States. Without some kind of historical GPS, it is in danger of losing its way.”
2/
2/
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
In his now infamous 2015 Weekly Standard essay, Wood complained that the William & Mary Quarterly “no longer concentrates exclusively on the origins of the United States. Without some kind of historical GPS, it is in danger of losing its way.”
2/
2/