While my research has taken a new direction, I hope that Pietism will never be too long off my agenda. So I was grateful to Caleb Lindgren of Christianity Today for inviting me to write a profile of Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), the Lutheran pastor who is often considered the father of the Pietist movement. Though … More My Philipp Spener Profile for Christianity Today
Another busy week as the semester starts to wind down… I talked with the director of the Minnesota Historical Society about public history, and with two of my students about hockey. I shared a talk I gave on sacramental similes for the liberal arts, and the Minnesota Prayer Breakfast got me thinking about death and … More That Was The Week That Was
Today I’m helping to host the 2019 Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium, an annual one-day conference that features the research of students from church-related colleges in the Upper Midwest. We’ve got about 45 students from 12 schools presenting on a dozen panels throughout the day. But we opened with a plenary session on “The Future of … More Saturday’s Podcast: The Future of Public History
God, give me an uncomplicated faith — if only for a moment. That’s what I prayed this morning as I attended the annual Minnesota Prayer Breakfast, a now 59-year tradition whose participants “gather to work and pray for unity so that they can come to know [God] and have their lives transformed by his love.” … More On Prayer, Death, and Resurrection
Last week it was horse racing and Indy Car. This week we again invited two guests to The 252 to help us understand a sport that isn’t quite in our wheelhouse: ice hockey. Thanks to Bethel seniors Logan Olson (History/Political Science) and Andrew Zwart (History/Biokinetics) for talking about their years playing hockey and what appeals to … More Wednesday’s Podcast: The State of Hockey
Earlier this month I had the honor of delivering the keynote address at the 2019 Twin Cities Undergraduate Theology Conference, a joint effort of four evangelical colleges: Bethel University, Crown College, North Central University, and the University of Northwestern St. Paul. I decided to use the occasion to think in public about another kind of … More A Sacramental Vision of the Liberal Arts
It was an eclectic week for me: from podcasting about IndyCar to reflecting on the Notre Dame fire. Of course, Holy Week also found me meditating a lot on Jesus: his entry into Jerusalem, how his death inspired poets and artists during the world wars, and how his followers and killers spent the first Holy … More That Was The Week That Was
To varying degrees, I’m a fan of the most prominent team sports in America: baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer. But I’m less familiar with two other kinds of athletic competition that have deep histories, distinctive cultures, and significant fanbases: horse racing and auto racing. So this week on The 252, we asked Sam to tell … More Wednesday’s Podcast: Making the Case for Indy Car and Horse Racing
Like many of you, I spent a long time watching yesterday’s terrible fire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. I’m still sorting out the feelings, trying to understand why I felt as sad as I did — knowing that others took it far harder… First, it’s always painful to see the world get a … More The Church Is (Not Just) a Building: Some Thoughts on Notre Dame
While Holy Week is often a time when I write more devotionally than academically, I don’t think I’ve ever reflected on Palm Sunday. But our pastor’s sermon this morning — part of a wonderfully rich service — got me thinking about this day in new ways. Preaching on Matthew’s account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem … More “Look, your king is coming to you”: A Palm Sunday Meditation
The Pietist Schoolman 