Abigail Adams narrates some of the most iconic moments of the American Revolution as tensions mount between the American colonies and the British with the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.
The Gathering Storm
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The Awakening
The Great Awakening, a dramatic spiritual revival, sweeps the colonies beginning in the 1730’s and a scientific revolution is taking place with people like Benjamin Franklin. The French and Indian War sets the stage for a revolution that will change the world.
The Dominion
In 1688, the Reverend John Wise led a little-remembered rebellion against the Dominion of New England which served as a forerunner of the American Revolution nearly 90 years later. Meanwhile a similar “Glorious Revolution” is taking place in Great Britain.
The Wilderness
Banished from Massachusetts, Roger Williams flees into the wilderness, where he introduces the concept of “Soul Liberty,” the bedrock principle that the religious beliefs of Americans cannot be dictated by a government or official church. "The Wilderness" tracks...
A New England
John Winthrop leads a courageous group of Puritan adventurers across the ocean in 1630, creating a New England--a "city upon a hill," as he calls it. "A New England" describes their vision for a religious and democratic society, breaking down stereotypes of Puritan...
Way of the Sensei
Every Sunday morning, before church, I go running with my youngest son along the paths winding through the University of Illinois Arboretum. Along the route, we pass Japan House. So it was only fitting to do a feature story on the man behind Japan House, Shozo Sato....
A Tale of Two Tombs
Our tour group gathered beneath a canopy at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, listening to our guide on a beautiful, shirt-sleeve day. To one side, we could hear the singing of another church group gathered near the tomb, and to the other side was the cacophony of the...
Ordinary Objects, Extraordinary Stories: Introducing ‘Peterson Pilgrim’ Magazine
A letter that helped to convict a Nazi war criminal… A squeegee handle that saved the lives of half a dozen people on 9/11… A set of stairs that saved hundreds more… These ordinary objects played a role in some extraordinary stories. These stories are also some...
The Jerusalem Model: Legoland for Bible Geeks
“It’s even better than Legoland,†said actor Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame in the PBS show, Jesus: Countdown to Calvary. Bonneville made the comment while viewing a massive model depicting what the city of Jerusalem looked like in the first...
Mary Magdalene’s Giant Leap
Hanging in our basement, next to a Lego model of the Apollo 11 lunar lander, is the front page of a Chicago Tribune, dated July 21, 1969. The headline: “GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.†Last year, the United States celebrated 50 years since that incredible day when Neil...