Dr. Kate Bowler

Denomination: Other
Organization: Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC

Dr. Kate Bowler is an associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School. Her first book, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, received praise as the first history of the movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness. In 2015, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. In her viral New York Times op-ed, she wrote about the irony of being an expert in health, wealth and happiness while being ill. Her subsequent memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I’ve loved), tells the story of her struggle to understand the personal and intellectual dimensions of the American belief that all tragedies are tests of character.