The Pietist Schoolman

Listen to My Interview on Christian Humanist Profiles

February 23, 2015

2/23/15 – I’m quite sure I have no business being admitted to any intellectual club whose membership includes Stanley Hauerwas, Merold Westphal, and John Milbank. So it was beyond kind of Nathan Gilmour to interview me for the newest episode of Christian Humanist Profiles, one of several terrific podcasts produced by the prolific team of Christian Humanists. We touched on several chapters … More Listen to My Interview on Christian Humanist Profiles

Taking Our Book on the Road: Messiah College

February 23, 2015

I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be at Messiah College on April 30th to give a variety of presentations related to our book, The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons! We’ll kick off at 9:45am with a chapel talk on “New Persons, New Church, New World: Pietism and Today’s Christian College.” After lunch … More Taking Our Book on the Road: Messiah College

That Was The Week That Was

February 21, 2015

Here… • The most interesting sailor, Civil War veteran, painter, linguist, pastor, theologian, and university founder you’ve never heard of had a birthday. • Can Christians rehabilitate the word “piety“? • Our WWI trip: twenty-one days in Europe in just eleven photos. • Video footage from that trip featured in the latest webisode from our department. … More That Was The Week That Was

Happy Birthday, John Alexis Edgren!

February 20, 2015

Like many American colleges and universities founded in the nineteenth century, the place I work came into being thanks largely to the efforts of a pioneering figure who is as venerated within the school as he is unknown outside of it. For Bethel, that figure is John Alexis Edgren, whose 176th birthday our campus celebrates today. Born in Sweden … More Happy Birthday, John Alexis Edgren!

Reclaiming Piety

February 18, 2015

I’m convinced that one of the main reasons that those of us who appreciate Pietism face an uphill struggle in reclaiming its contemporary value is that Pietism is often equated with piety. For some, piety connotes an intensely private kind of religiosity that detaches the Christian from concern for this world, leaving them “too heavenly minded to be earthly good.” But probably … More Reclaiming Piety

Screen shot from episode 3 of Past & Presence

Past and Presence: Secondary and Tertiary Sources

February 18, 2015

It’s library week on Past & Presence, our department’s new webisode series: Not only do I host episode 3 from locations in the Bethel University Library, but we talk to two of our librarians. One of them is a former student in our department, as is our interview subject of the week: Kevin McGrew, director of … More Past and Presence: Secondary and Tertiary Sources

Ring of Remembrance at Notre Dame de Lorette

Our WWI Travel Course in Eleven Photos

February 16, 2015

Last week at AC 2nd, our department blog, I posted a four-part photo essay about our January travel course on the history of World War I. For those who may not want to see quite that many photos but are interested in our trip… My attempt to sum up our twenty-one days in only eleven photos: Our course began … More Our WWI Travel Course in Eleven Photos

That Was The Week That Was

February 14, 2015

Here… • “Here I stand, I can do no other… That’s how Playmobil designed me!” • Remembering a dear friend reminded me why I love the church. • The American freshman of 2014: less religious, more likely to go to grad school, but otherwise a lot like her counterparts of 2004, 1994, 1984, and 1974. • This … More That Was The Week That Was

Martin Luther, Child’s Plaything

February 13, 2015

Of all the ways the 500th anniversary of a German monk posting ninety-five Latin theses on a church door is being celebrated, this is clearly the best. Reports Deutsche Welle: Nearly 500 years after his death, the German monk who symbolizes the Protestant Reformation movement, has his own Playmobil figurine. Playmobil, maker of plastic toy sets … More Martin Luther, Child’s Plaything

Alyce’s Song: Reflections on a Funeral

February 12, 2015

The church is never more the church than at a funeral. Or so I decided last week, as the members and friends of Salem Covenant joined five families in paying final respects to five saints of the church. I didn’t know all five well, but I am glad that I was able to attend last Friday’s memorial service for Alyce Hawkinson … More Alyce’s Song: Reflections on a Funeral

The website of historian Chris Gehrz