Old Main at St. Olaf College

The Humanities in Church-Related Higher Ed: A Broader View

June 2, 2016

Because I work for a member institution of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) and study evangelical models of higher education, I occasionally need to be reminded that the CCCU represents only a fraction of the colleges and universities related to Christian churches. But after consecutive weekends in which I attended the seminary graduation … More The Humanities in Church-Related Higher Ed: A Broader View

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in December 2015

“Tell It Like It Is”: How the Church Should Respond to Trump

June 1, 2016

During our travels over the holiday weekend, we visited a church and witnessed an odd, telling moment. Looking for a negative sermon illustration at one point, the pastor spontaneously mentioned “the presidential candidate who says he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness.” As best I can recall, the pastor didn’t even say Donald Trump’s name, but he clearly thought he had crossed … More “Tell It Like It Is”: How the Church Should Respond to Trump

"Please wait here until you are useful"

What Makes the Humanities “Useful”?

May 31, 2016

Jim Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, took to the pages of the Los Angeles Times yesterday to argue that there’s nothing “useless” about a major in History. In fact, he contended, it has tremendous economic utility: The utility of disciplines that prepare critical thinkers escapes personnel offices, pundits and politicians (some of whom perhaps would prefer … More What Makes the Humanities “Useful”?

Graph showing declining enrollment in humanities fields (English, history, philosophy) at selected Christian liberal arts colleges since 2004

The Big Ten

May 31, 2016

Presenting the top ten posts of May at The Pietist Schoolman: If There’s a Crisis in the Humanities in Christian Colleges, What Does It Tell Us about Evangelicalism? Quantifying the Crisis in Humanities at Christian Colleges Untitled Are the Humanities in Crisis at Christian Colleges? Which Country (and Continent) Dominates Each Olympic Sport? The Spread of Technology since … More The Big Ten

"Baylor Athletics Welcomes You to Waco" (sign in Waco Airport)

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Football at Christian Colleges and Universities

May 26, 2016

[UPDATED, 12:30pm: Baylor announced that, as of May 31, Starr will step down as president but remain as law school professor and most likely chancellor, but Briles “has been suspended indefinitely with intent to terminate.” McCaw has been placed on probation, and unidentified members of the athletic department and administration have been fired.] Baylor University still has … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Football at Christian Colleges and Universities

Lena reading in our local library

Of Libraries, Churches, and the Importance of Welcoming

May 25, 2016

Happy as I was to see our Pietist Vision book reviewed in The Cresset, it’s another article that’s the real highlight of that publication’s Easter issue. Written by a friend of mine, Katie Koch, it starts with one of my favorite places — the public library — then quickly moves to a theme that has come up time and again for … More Of Libraries, Churches, and the Importance of Welcoming

IVP ad for our Pietism/higher ed book in the Fall 2014 issue of CCCU Advance

Searching for Jerusalem: A New Review of Our Pietist Vision Book

May 24, 2016

One of the pleasures of being (almost) done with grading is that I can start to catch up on reading. A summer book list will come another day, but this week, I want to mention two articles in the Easter issue of The Cresset, starting with a review essay that makes kind mention of our book, The Pietist Vision … More Searching for Jerusalem: A New Review of Our Pietist Vision Book

Armstrong, Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians

That Was The Week That Was

May 21, 2016

Here… • We finished season 2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast with a listener feedback session that revisited the theme of Christian unity and asked after the political inclinations of Pietists. • Meanwhile, it was four posts in four days on Christian higher education: quantifying the state of the humanities in evangelical colleges; what that says about evangelicalism; rethinking … More That Was The Week That Was

"That's a wrap"

Thursday’s Podcast: The Pietist Future of American Christianity

May 19, 2016

And Season 2 comes to an end! Thanks to everyone who wrote in this year, especially Eric Johnson (who asked a great question about Pietism and politics), Johanna Fenton (who prompted us to dive deeper into the nature of peace and Christian unity — with an assist from North Park Seminary professor Jay Phelan), and Christian Humanist friend … More Thursday’s Podcast: The Pietist Future of American Christianity