In addition to this week-in-review, this weekend I’m taking some time to prepare a “That Was The Year That Was” post. I’ll start counting down the year’s top twenty-five posts later today on Twitter, then share the full results in a year-in-review post on New Year’s Eve. Here… • This year, I tried to imagine seeing the first … More That Was The Week That Was
From my very first Christmastide as a blogger… Because it’s about the parents of Jesus, it makes for a decent sequel to my previous post. Not just Boxing Day, Return Unwanted Gifts Day, or Two Turtle Doves Day, the second day of Christmas has enormous theological importance: It reminds us that when the angels returned to the … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: “What Child Is This?”
Earlier this month our church used a Wednesday night to experiment with a more contemplative form of worship. Calling it “Christmas Quiet,” our pastors led us in prayer, meditation, and song. It culminated in Pastor Mark asking us to reread one of Christianity’s most familiar texts using a technique that is both old and, to most evangelical Protestants, … More Christmas Through Mary’s Eyes
Whatever concerns I have about how Angelina Jolie brings Louie Zamperini’s story to the screen, I’m less interested in discouraging movie-going than in encouraging book-buying. If you haven’t read it yet, I heartily recommend Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, based on extensive primary source research and numerous interviews with Zamperini (who died earlier this year, four after the book came … More Unbroken: The Meaning of Conversion
By all rights, I should be thrilled that Unbroken, the biopic about Olympic athlete-turned-WWII POW Louie Zamperini, is coming to theatres this week. I always celebrate turning in my grades by going to the movies, and this one has been on my radar ever since I read Laura Hillenbrand’s remarkable book about Zamperini during my trip to California earlier … More Unbroken: The Challenge of Biography
Next month my colleague Sam Mulberry and I are again taking a group of Bethel University students on a three-week trip to Europe to study the history of World War I. I’m especially excited to be in Europe during the first year of the war’s ongoing centenary, and will try to find a way to … More All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914
Here… • Were these the best history books of 2014? • Which Bible passages most shaped your understanding of God? • Want to help publicize our book on Pietism and Christian higher ed? (Thanks to John Fea, among others, for already helping the cause!) …There and Everywhere • As someone who was creating podcasts back in the … More That Was The Week That Was
12/19/14 – Word on the street is that preordered copies of The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons are starting to arrive in mailboxes! If you’ve got a copy and want to share a photo or a favorite quotation, tweet it to #wholeandholypersons, post it at our Facebook page, or … More Have You Received Your Copy of The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Ed Yet?
The ten most popular posts in the last month here at The Pietist Schoolman: How to Serve a Dickensian Christmas Dinner The Best History Books of 2014? The Spread of Technology since 1900 Live, from Lancaster a County… It’s Jared Burkholder! Military Chaplains in World War I Acknowledgments from Our Pietism Book Why Are There … More The Big Ten
If it’s not bad enough that I’m posting a second consecutive list (classic clickbait for bloggers), today I’m shamelessly ripping off an idea from Peter Enns, who two weeks ago shared ten passages from the Old Testament and ten from the New that shape how he thinks about God. Of course, Peter Enns knows the Bible … More Five Bible Passages that Shape How I Think about God
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