“Martin Luther must be turning over in his grave,” tweeted a former student of mine last night, re: the following announcement from the Vatican (via The Guardian passing on news from an Italian newspaper) about a certain practice that both prompted and survived the Protestant Reformation: Indulgences these days are granted to those who carry … More e-Indulgences?
I’m still researching an answer to last Monday‘s closing question: why is it that so many hymnals don’t include popular patriotic hymns? As a placeholder, though, I thought it might be fun to share a rare evening post spotlighting a few songs in this genre that just never found an audience. (Here again, relying on … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 2)
Here… • “Groaning” for the kingdom of God as a spiritual practice: Christian Collins Winn on Blumhardt Pietism and social justice. • Examining the waxing and waning popularity of America’s favorite patriotic hymns. • Almost a hundred years later, World War I is still adding to its death toll. • John Calvin doesn’t look a … More That Was The Week That Was
I took the picture above during my first tour of the former Ypres battlefield, a key point along the Western Front of World War I. Our tour guide Carl pulled up to a local farmer’s house, opened the garage, and here was a table full of shells, grenades, bullets, and fragments of such ordnance. When … More Iron Harvests: The Death Toll from World War I Continues to Grow
Last summer I killed some time filled some space indulged my own narcissism explored something other than “Christianity, history, education, and how they intersect” with a series of posts called “Albums A to Z.” In the spirit of trying to listen to music that I’d once enjoyed but hadn’t had the time or inclination to … More Albums A to Z: A Mid-Series Recap
I’ve blogged a couple of times about The King’s College (TKC), the conservative Christian school in Manhattan: in August 2011, contrasting the way that its then-president, Dinesh D’Souza, and long-time Bethel president Carl Lundquist talked about evangelical social and political engagement; and then in December 2012, asking if D’Souza’s resignation from TKC signaled evangelical depoliticization. … More Gregory Thornbury Named President of The King’s College
My colleague Sam Mulberry and I are about halfway through the first online version of one of Bethel’s signature courses: GES130 Christianity and Western Culture. (Look for some reflections on that experience in August.) We’ve reconfigured what had been a lecture-discussion course, building it instead around documentary films, virtual museums, and daily writing assignments. We’re … More Happy Birthday, John Calvin
My colleague Christian Collins Winn has an article in the Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care that should be of interest to many readers of this blog. In it he asks: What has “spirituality” to do with “social justice”? What has “prayer” to do with “action”? What has the … More Christian Collins Winn on Spirituality and Social Justice
7/8/13 – Readers of this blog will likely enjoy The Baptist Pietist Clarion, an annual newsletter edited by occasion Pietist Schoolman contributor G.W. Carlson. Its newest issue is now available for download: in addition to several pieces on Martin Luther King, Jr., it includes Jonathan Larson’s eulogy for Virgil Olson, the Baptist historian paid tribute … More The July 2013 Baptist Pietist Clarion
Which patriotic hymns are most popular? Have they changed over time? Researching an Independence Day post in which I didn’t exactly gush with enthusiasm at the inclusion of patriotic songs in American hymnals, I discovered Hymnary.org, “a comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals” supported by the Hymn Society, Calvin College’s Institute of Christian Worship, and … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 1)
The Pietist Schoolman 