4/26/15 – My weekend links wrap will be postponed until tomorrow afternoon while I spend the day at the second annual Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium, kindly hosted this year by Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN. I’ll be speaking as part of a panel on “Western Civilization and the Christian Liberal Arts Tradition” and perhaps live-tweeting … More The 2015 Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium
A century ago today, one of the great crimes in modern history began to unfold in the ancient city of Istanbul. In the middle of that Saturday night, Ottoman police rounded up the leading figures of their capital city’s Armenian community. One of them, an influential bishop named Grigoris Balakian, survived to leave behind this account: We arrived … More The 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
4/23/15 – On episode #2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, I’m joined by theologian Christian Collins Winn for a conversation about civility, academic freedom, being Baptist, ACC basketball, and why Pietists like Philipp Spener and the Blumhardts have “hope for better times.” Check out Christian’s book with Roger Olson, Reclaiming Pietism, and the collection he edited with John Drury, Karl Barth … More Thursday’s Podcast: Hope for Better Times
4/22/15 – This week’s episode of Past & Presence takes us to the intersection of popular culture and the past. I take viewers on a walking tour of F. Scott Fitzgerald sites in the author’s hometown of St. Paul, MN, and moderate a conversation about how the past is portrayed in films, TV series, video games, novels, and other media.
When the editorial staff of The New Republic resigned last year in a clash with new ownership, I pretty much resolved never to read the venerable magazine again. But I’ve found myself clicking those links again, most often when they address a topic that was never exactly a strength of the old TNR: religion. Most of this is thanks to … More Is Cornel West (or Michael Eric Dyson) a Prophet?
Here… • The Pietist Schoolman Podcast debuted, as Roger Olson joined me to talk Pietism, evangelicalism, Jesus, seminaries, and more. • The newest issue of Fides et Historia included my article calling for more of an international or transnational turn in evangelical historiography — an article that I needed to update a bit. • Jared reported from the Cushwa Seminar … More That Was The Week That Was
April 16th is finally here, which means that the first episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast is available on iTunes! It features my recent conversation with Roger Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylor’s Truett Seminary and author of numerous books, including The Journey of Modern Theology and Reformed and Always Reforming. Of course, Roger also contributed … More The Pietist Schoolman Podcast Debuts Today… with Roger Olson
Maybe it’s just that the Twins are off to a terrible start, but I was especially tickled to come across this in Alan Ball’s new Liberty’s Tears: Soviet Portraits of the “American Way of Life” During the Cold War: Permeated with the spirit of venality, slavery, and gangsterism, contemporary American baseball maims hundreds of young lives and serves … More “Venality, slavery, and gangsterism”: Soviet Perceptions of Baseball’s Golden Age
Any new issue of Fides et Historia is a cause for celebration, but the Winter/Spring 2015 iteration of the journal of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH) is truly an embarrassment of riches. Reflections on the Incarnation and on mystery, a special review of my former Bethel colleague Steve Keillor’s approach to providential history, anniversary responses … More Updating My Contribution to the New Issue of Fides et Historia
Here… • Joy, expectation, and Easter Monday. • The plan to take over all media is working out nicely: catch up with our department webisodes as we visit Europe and talk faith and history; and get a sneak preview of the new Pietist Schoolman Podcast. • Forget would-be “Protestant Notre Dames”… Just what makes Notre Dame … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 