“What’s wrong with Christianity in 2016?” Yikes. As I wrote here last week, I’ve been dreading this question since we decided that our book on “Pietism and the Future of Christianity” would mirror the structure of Philipp Spener’s Pia Desideria, whose first major section is a “Conspectus of Corrupt Conditions in the Church.” As I mused … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Wrong?
After a midwinter break, Mark Pattie and I are preparing to record the next podcast in our series thinking aloud through the book we’re writing for InterVarsity Press, tentatively called Hope for Better Times: Pietism and the Future of Christianity. The structure of our book will mirror that of Pia Desideria, the 1675 booklet published by the Lutheran pastor … More What’s Wrong with Chris(tianity) in 2016?
So if Pietism is an ethos or spirit, where can you see it today in Christianity? Who or what exemplifies the instincts we talked about last time? On today’s episode, Mark, Sam, and I share some of our experiences with Pietism in the Evangelical Covenant Church and at Bethel University (two Christian institutions that explicitly claim … More Thursday’s Podcast: Pietists Today
This morning’s new episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast finds Mark Pattie and me talking about a question that’s foundational to the book we’re going to be writing this year: What is Pietism? And, almost as importantly, what is it not? Anti-intellectualism, legalism, quietism… though the seeds of such pathologies are present in the Pietist “instincts” that we … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Pietism?
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
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
On Tuesday I shared the news that Mark Pattie and I have signed a contract with InterVarsity Press to write Hope for Better Times: Pietism and the Future of Christianity, hopefully hitting stores sometime in mid-2017. Today I’m happy to share a related announcement: Mark will be joining me for the second season of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, as … More Announcing… Season 2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast
While Bethel doesn’t actually start its break until Wednesday, I plan to take the entire week off from blogging. In the meantime, let me suggest some alternate reading material: • Tracy McKenzie’s Thanksgiving countdown: “As an alternative to the ubiquitous countdown to Black Friday, each weekday this month I have been posting brief essays on … More Thanksgiving Break
In recognition of Veterans/Remembrance Day, Fletcher Warren and I are proud today to unveil the final version of Bethel at War, 1914-2014: A Digital History of a Christian College in a Century of Warfare. Whether you’re a Bethel alumnus, student, or employee, a member of its denomination, someone who’s interested in the histories of higher education, Christianity (especially … More At Long Last, the Official Debut of Bethel at War, 1914-2014!
Sharp-eyed readers might have noticed a new name popping up in the right-hand column of this blog, on my rotating list of “A Few of the Blogs, Publications, and Writers I Follow.” Adam Laats is historian of education at SUNY-Binghamton, currently writing a book tentatively titled Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education. (John Fea got … More I Love You, But…
The Pietist Schoolman 