The Pietist Schoolman

It’s been an unusual year here at The Pietist Schoolman, where I did less posting in 2017 than ever before. In part that’s because I wrote more at other platforms, including my first articles for Christianity Today, Christian History Magazine, and my denominational magazine and a column on the Resurrection in the current issue of Pietisten. I also published more than 60 posts at The Anxious Bench, seven of which managed to crack that blog’s top 25 for the year. Most importantly, I’ve spent the year focused on The Pietist Option, work that will continue in early 2018 with me teaching and preaching at several churches in the Twin Cities and publishing a Lenten devotional written primarily by our readers. (Stay tuned on both counts!)

So for my annual year-in-review post, I’ll do a somewhat shorter countdown than usual. Thanks to everyone for reading, and Happy New Year!

Top 10 Pietist Schoolman Posts in 2017

1. The Nashville Statement: Theology for the Age of Trump (Aug. 31)
2. How You Can Help Minnehaha Academy (Aug. 5)
3. The Silencing of Christian Conservatives Opposed to Trump (Feb. 13)
4. Happy Holidays, Mr. President (Dec. 22)
5. The Boston Declaration (Nov. 20)
6. Confessing Faculty: Why I Signed (and Why I Hesitated) (Mar. 22)
7. How History Is Actually Erased (Aug. 15)
8. The Graham Rule and Barriers to Women in Leadership at Christian Colleges (Apr. 19)
9. The Face of Christian Higher Education Is Not Jerry Falwell, Jr. (Feb. 3)
10. The Pietist Option in Practice: The Evangelical Covenant Church (June 12)

Top 5 Anxious Bench Posts in 2017

1. I Do Not Owe “Total Allegiance” to America (Jan. 21)
2. Queen Elizabeth, Billy Graham, and the Faith of The Crown (Dec. 12)
3. Christian Colleges, Sexuality, and “Cultural Waterloo” (Aug. 1)
4. A Brief History of Vacation Bible School (June 20)
5. 7 Women Who Shaped Christianity and Western Culture (Aug. 24)

Top 20 Most-Clicked Links in 2017

1. A Bridge Between Statements & a Bridge Between Worlds: Why I call myself a gay (or SSA) celibate Christian (David Bennett, Daily Roll – Reflections)
2. Confessions of a Lonely Christian Historian (John Fea, The Way of Improvement Leads Home)
3. King University to eliminate 9 faculty positions (Zach Irby, Bristol Herald Courier)
4. These Conservative Christians Are Opposed to Trump—and Suffering the Consequences (Emma Green, The Atlantic)
5. The Denver Statement (Nadia Bolz Weber, Sarcastic Lutheran)
6. The Best Books to Read for Reformation 2017 (Justin Taylor, Evangelical History)
7. 5 Wheaton College football players face felony charges in hazing incident (Christy Gutowski & Stacy St. Clair, Chicago Tribune)
8. Standing With the Vulnerable (Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed)
9. Uproar Over Anti-Bias Effort at Gustavus Adolphus (Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed)
10. Signers and Decliners (D.G. Hart, Old Life)
11. A Historian’s 5 Tips on Writing (Kevin Kruse, reprinted at Evangelical History)
12. Here’s why people hate Joel Osteen (Kate Bowler, Washington Post)
13. What lies behind the growth of Christian universities in Africa (Joel Carpenter, The Conversation)
14. History Is Not a Useless Major: Fighting Myths with Data (Paul B. Sturtevant, Perspectives on History)
15. Samford Refuses Baptist Funding (Nick Roll, Inside Higher Ed)
16. Keeping the Pennsylvania Dutch language alive — and thriving (Jason Nark, Philadelphia Inquirer)
17. Pregnant, Single, Fired (Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed)
18. The First White President (Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic)
19. The profane origins of ‘Merry Christmas’ (Neil J. Young, Los Angeles Times)
20. How Cool Works in America Today (David Brooks, New York Times)