Asbury University Honors Program Welcomes Historian Dr. Molly Worthen

Renowned historian and journalist discusses her new book Spellbound and encourages Asbury students to thoughtfully engage faith, history, and leadership

The Asbury University Honors Program (AUHP) hosted historian-journalist Dr. Molly Worthen on March 5 in the Gyertson Screening Room for a colloquium series talk discussing her newest book, “Spellbound.”

Worthen described her book as a history of charisma as a religious and political idea and as the story of how Americans think of encounters with the Holy Spirit and encounters with charismatic leaders. In her talk, Worthen shared about her aims in “Spellbound” and to define charisma in the context of religion and politics with a focus on the 1960s onward (the latter part of her book).

One major takeaway from Worthen’s presentation to Asbury University included her desire for audience members to remember that religious and non-religious people are not that different from each other or from people centuries ago. She pointed out how people throughout history have sought transcendent meaning and have wanted a role in a “big, exciting story.”

Worthen offered insight to Asbury students hoping to balance out their view of charismatic leaders: “Interrogate the stories we tell ourselves and the sources of authority in our lives.” Worthen also encouraged students to become more aware of the channels from which they receive information and to test the narratives they perceive.

She also shared advice to those hoping to develop their style of political and social interaction: “One of the most crucial steps to being informed, empathetic, and balanced is to read more ‘real’ books that help you to develop the art of seeing perspectives you disagree with [to develop] an ear and a skill for articulate and effective communication.”

Through events like the Honors Program colloquium series, Asbury University connects students with leading scholars who challenge them to think deeply about faith, culture, and the ideas shaping today’s world.

Worthen ended by sharing that Christianity puts a finer point on developing an empathetic imagination, and that the Gospel entails imagining the world from other people’s points of view.

Worthen is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a freelance journalist. She received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Her research focuses on North American religious and intellectual history. Worthen lectures widely on religion and politics and teaches courses on North American religious and intellectual culture, global Christianity, and the history of ideas.  She writes about religion, politics, and higher education for the New York Times and has also contributed to the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Slate, and other publications. Learn more.