Evangelical awarded Library of Congress chair

WASHINGTON — The Library of Congress awarded Mark A. Noll, prominent evangelical church historian, a distinguished research position June 1.

Noll, who hopes to use the vast resources of the Library of Congress and the proximity to lawmakers to study the significance of the Bible in American public life, is the third recipient of the honor. Appointees usually hold the position, which officially goes by the name “Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in American History and Ethics at the John W. Kluge Center,” for one year.

The holder of the Maguire Chair, according to the Library of Congress, usually conducts research on the ethical issues associated with American history.

Noll teaches Christian thought at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and is the co-founder of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals. He is considered one of the premier evangelical church historians in the United States.