As much as the Larycia Hawkins case at Wheaton College connects to issues like Muslim-Christian relations and the place of academic freedom on Christian campuses, I think it should also take us back to another topic I blogged a lot about in late 2015: What does it mean to be an “evangelical” Christian? In addition to my usual … More “Who’s an Evangelical?” Revisited (#DocHawk Version)
It’s here! The first episode of Season 2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast is now available for download on iTunes! It’s the first of twelve weekly (mostly) episodes in which Mark Pattie and I will think aloud about our in-process book, Hope for Better Times: Pietism and the Future of Christianity. This episode (#13 in the entire run of the series) … More Thursday’s Podcast: A New Book, A New Season
Yesterday Wheaton College announced that provost Stanton Jones had recommended the termination of tenured political science professor Larycia Hawkins. (If you’re new to the story, here was my summary and reaction in mid-December, after Hawkins was suspended.) After a faculty committee makes its own recommendation, Wheaton president Philip Ryken will then take the matter to the college’s board for … More “No One Is Safe”: Larycia Hawkins Responds to Wheaton
Pope Gregory the Great and Ambrose of Milan are the patron saints for teachers and learning, respectively. But this Epiphany — when Christians celebrate the revelation of Jesus, Son of God, to the world, and when many professors are starting a new term — I’ve been thinking about another, perhaps unlikely model of faithful scholarship from history: namely, the Magi of … More The Magi as Models for Christian Scholars
I don’t normally comment on things a year after they’re published, but since a post I hadn’t noticed before was referred to me over the weekend by two different colleagues, let me offer a few thoughts on Luke Harrington’s January 2015 piece, “Baptizing ‘Masculinity’: The Real Reason Men Are Leaving the Church.” In short, Harrington suggests … More Are Men Leaving the Church Because It’s Insufficiently Intellectual?
No one has done more to inspire and encourage me in my own blogging than John Fea, professor of history at Messiah College and author of several books on American history (as well as a great introduction to the discipline that I’ll be teaching again this spring). So I’m happy to see that he has finally … More John Fea Is On the Move — and On the Air
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Visiting another church yesterday morning, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a sermon on the theme of abundance. (Part of a series, actually.) It’s territory too often ceded to the worst of the … More Life, and Abundantly: Gratitude in the New Year
It’s just like a historian to live in the past, but… Before we get too far into 2016, I thought I’d look back once more at 2015: Not to the most-read posts of the year, but to those that were barely noticed. Most of them were announcements: new podcasts or webisodes, speaking engagements, etc. But for whatever … More What You Might’ve Missed in 2015
As always, I’m grateful to anyone who takes any time to read anything I write. But that list is a lot longer this year, as readership jumped a shocking 52% above what it was last year! In fact, almost as many people visited The Pietist Schoolman in 2015 as in my first two full years of blogging, 2012 and … More 2015: That Was The Year That Was
Apart from preparing a year-end wrap-up, I’ll be taking off the rest of 2015. In place of my usual That Was The Week That Was post, today and tomorrow I’ll share several links via the Pietist Schoolman Facebook page. Meanwhile, if you’re a newer visitor to this blog, you’ll find plenty of Christmas-y reading material in our archive. For example: … More Christmas at The Pietist Schoolman
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