Christianity Today names BU history prof’s book one of the best of the year

For the second time in four years, Dr. Thomas Kidd, an associate professor of history in Baylor’s College of Arts and Sciences, has one of the top books of the year as evaluated by Christianity Today.

Kidd’s book, God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution, was chosen as one of 21 books across 10 categories to be honored from the past year. God of Liberty examines the role religion played in founding of America and was one of two books to be recognized by Christianity Today in the area of history and biography.

Kidd, who is also a Senior Fellow at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, was similarly recognized in 2008 for his last book, The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America. Now in his ninth year at Baylor, Kidd is an outspoken proponent of teachers who are active researchers as well.

“I believe that while excellent teaching is not determined by research activity alone, for me personally, my most passionate teaching happens in areas where I have actively owned the material through original research,” Kidd told Baylor Magazine in 2008. “Teaching the Great Awakening of the 18th century is personally exciting because I can tell the students what I have found and written about through my own research.”

Sic ’em, Dr. Kidd!