Why I’m Taking a Month Off from This Blog

This will be my last post at The Pietist Schoolman for about a month. It’s not that I’m too busy — at least, no more than usual — or that I need to focus my attention on the start of the academic year. I’ve generally found that blogging is more often in conversation with teaching, research, and my other professional … More Why I’m Taking a Month Off from This Blog

Now Available for Preorder: The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education!

On Friday morning I sent back the index and corrected proofs for The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons; Friday afternoon I opened our mail to find said book gracing the pages of InterVarsity Press’ new titles announcement for Winter 2015. And then here it is at the IVP website. I’m … More Now Available for Preorder: The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education!

Birmingham Revolution: Not Everyone’s a Prophet

Among the many people to whom I recommended Ed Gilbreath’s new book this summer were colleagues and students in Bethel University’s Christianity and Western Culture (CWC) course. While that course effectively ends its narrative around 1800 (I go as far as the British parliament abolishing the slave trade in 1807) and we barely touch on U.S. history, the … More Birmingham Revolution: Not Everyone’s a Prophet

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?

From this past June: my three-part attempt to explain my little-known, fast-growing denomination, and why it’s so distinctive. This past June I flew from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Chicago, where I represented my congregation at Gather ’14, the annual meeting of our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church. “What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?” at least one person just asked. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: What’s the Evangelical Covenant Church?

Tracking the Popularity of WWI in Books and Dissertations

Coming into this centenary year for World War I, there’s been a predictable resurgence of books written about that conflict. Which got me wondering how the war has ebbed and flowed over time as a subject for historians and other writers. I came up with two highly imperfect ways to satisfy this curiosity: I was challenged earlier this summer … More Tracking the Popularity of WWI in Books and Dissertations

That Was The Week That Was

Here… • I didn’t dislike the new college rankings from MONEY magazine, but as I considered how Bethel and other Christian colleges fared, I remained convinced that “no system that needs to rank public institutions and avowedly secular private ones is going to properly assess the value of Christian colleges and universities.” • We reached the 100th anniversary of the … More That Was The Week That Was