Author: Chris Gehrz

Burtchaell, Dying of the Light

The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education

October 27, 2015

On the eve of the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), historian William Ringenberg told WORLD Magazine that the debate over those schools’ decision to hire LGBT faculty was “traumatic” for Christian higher ed. In his judgment, only one other crisis had been more significant: … More The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education

CCCU sign

“Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality

October 26, 2015

If you’ve been reading this blog in recent months, you probably are familiar with the debate within evangelical higher education over the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite to hire LGBT faculty — and then those schools’ late September decision to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than cause more of … More “Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality

Photo of Adolf Hitler and Amin al-Husseini meeting in 1941

The Political Misuses of Holocaust History

October 23, 2015

In recent decades, public consciousness of the Holocaust has increased exponentially. One unfortunate by-product of this otherwise salutary development has been the increased temptation for politicians to exploit references to Hitler, Nazism, and the Holocaust to stigmatize their opponents. So writes historian Christopher Browning, in an essay for Foreign Policy that argues that the “Political exploitation of the … More The Political Misuses of Holocaust History

DeVry University logo

New Research Finds That Online Courses Significantly Reduce Student Achievement

October 22, 2015

Having already written a defense of the lecture this week, I’m going to take the risk of seeming like a complete curmudgeon and share these findings about online education, from a new study coming out of Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA): (H/T L.D. Burnett) …online courses do less to promote student learning and … More New Research Finds That Online Courses Significantly Reduce Student Achievement

Blue candles on a birthday cake

40 for 40

October 20, 2015

Okay, let’s confront the truth: Today is not just any birthday. Today I finally turn 40. It’s no biggie. I mean, Tom Petty is 65 today. 65! (Oh, and a very happy birthday to my fellow 10/20-ers. Aragorn, Jim, Juan Gone, Snoop Dogg, et alia: it’s a privilege to share a birthday with all y’all. RIP Jerry Orbach, Dracula, Mick, and Sir … More 40 for 40

Molly Worthen

This Year’s Reminder That the Lecture is Not Dead

October 19, 2015

You know you inhabit an odd corner of the social media world when it goes viral over a New York Times column entitled “Lecture Me. Really.” And yet, I think it says something that a significant number of the academics I know on Facebook and follow on Twitter resonated so strongly with this argument from historian Molly Worthen: … More This Year’s Reminder That the Lecture is Not Dead

Pentecostal women in Chicago in 1941

What Are Turning Points in the Global History of Christianity in the 20th Century?

October 16, 2015

On Sunday I’ll be back at Calvary Church in Roseville, MN, teaching the second of six classes in an adult Sunday School series entitled “Turning Points: Global Christianity in the 20th Century.” As I explained to everyone last Sunday, I’m borrowing a concept from Mark Noll, who suggests that “One of the most interesting ways to grasp … More What Are Turning Points in the Global History of Christianity in the 20th Century?