Francke and Friedrich Wilhelm: Can Pietists Serve “Two Kingdoms”?

In 1713 the newly-crowned king of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederick William) I, visited the city of Halle and toured its pioneering educational and charitable institutions. The king’s tour guide was the institutions’ founder, the Pietist pastor August Hermann Francke. Their conversation soon turned to Friedrich Wilhelm’s central concern: the Prussian army. FW: What do you … More Francke and Friedrich Wilhelm: Can Pietists Serve “Two Kingdoms”?

And the Best Christian Book of All Time Is…

4/3/2013 – It’s here: the finals of the Best Christian Book of All Time tournament, being held by InterVarsity’s Emerging Scholars blog. Though Dietrich Bonhoeffer looked unstoppable in early rounds, his Cost of Discipleship lost out to C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. In the other half of the bracket, Augustine’s Confessions edged the representative from the … More And the Best Christian Book of All Time Is…

Students as Scholars

I’ll be honest: the primary point of this post is to cover one English major at Bethel with so much praise that she’ll feel compelled to take at least one History course from me before she graduates. But in the process, readers not named Abby Stocker might also find themselves reappraising their assumptions about what … More Students as Scholars

Behold, I Make All Things Old: Hope, Simplicity, and Amish Baseball

I’m a Christian, a baseball fan, and someone who absolutely loathes practical jokes. Which makes this April 1 about two-thirds of the way to being a sensational day. Setting aside the fooling that I’ll hope to avoid, today’s combination of Easter Monday with major league baseball’s opening day underscores what E.J. Dionne (quoting from a … More Behold, I Make All Things Old: Hope, Simplicity, and Amish Baseball

The Cross: A Good Friday Meditation on World War and Holocaust

Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is … More The Cross: A Good Friday Meditation on World War and Holocaust