Even as I await the publication of my new book on Pietism, it’s gratifying to see people continuing to engage with its 2015 predecessor, The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education. At the end of a generous review in The Covenant Quarterly, Mark Safstrom puts that book in the context of work that Christian Collins Winn and I have been doing … More Covenant Visions of Christian Higher Education
Earlier this week I started a three-part series at The Anxious Bench on the challenges of writing biographies. I’m writing these posts without any real knowledge of what biographers go through, having never written a book of that sort. But like many historians who have reached mid-career, I’m contemplating such a project, reading more examples of it than usual, and starting … More My New Series on Writing Biography
Early in professors’ careers, writes Wheaton College biblical scholar Gary Burge, they “must learn the culture in which they work and decide how they are going to fit into the corporate life of the community?” Not only do they need to hone their skills as teachers, continue the research that will earn them tenure, and form important … More Mapping Your Academic Career: Academic Freedom and Institutional Dissonance
Back in March, when Donald Trump was nothing more than the surprise leader in the Republican primaries, the fact that he was getting even 40% of the self-identified “evangelical” vote had already led Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore to declare that religious term “almost meaningless this year.” Even worse, “in many ways the word itself … More Done with “Evangelical”? Maybe You Should Try…
As I wrote last Monday, my main goal for the second half of my fall sabbatical is to engage in some professional stock-taking. Having received tenure, been promoted to full professor, and just sent off the manuscript for my third project on Pietism, I’d like to step back and consider where I am in my academic career. My guide for this … More Mapping Your Academic Career: From Security to Success
A big moment in my career happened last Friday around lunchtime, when I sent this document to our editor at InterVarsity Press: Yes, this is the manuscript for the book that Mark Pattie and I have been writing all year. There’s still a lot of work left to do before it comes out (maybe next fall?), but … More What Comes Next? (On Reaching Mid-Career in Higher Education)
By the end of this week, Mark and I will have submitted the manuscript for our book on Pietism and the future of Christianity. As it happens, this stage concludes as churches like ours prepare to celebrate Reformation Sunday, and our book will come out in 2017 — the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Indeed, Martin Luther is currently … More Reformed and Always Reforming… Even 499 Years Later
I don’t regret participating in our national angsting over the presidential election, but I can’t say it’s been much fun. So before diving back into that mess, I thought I’d toss off something vastly less serious: a few of the things in life — other than my family — that I’m currently enjoying. Or, a few … More A Few of My Favorite Things, or America’s Already Pretty Great
One of the benefits of working at a place like Bethel is that I get to learn from brilliant colleagues like Adam Johnson, who teaches cognitive neuroscience in our psychology department. Adam’s research focuses on memory, decision-making, and moral psychology and has been supported by grants from BioLogos and the National Institutes of Health. In this guest post, he draws on insights … More Moral Psychology and Politics: Why Is the Trump Tape Such a Revelation to Evangelicals? (Adam Johnson)
Today Andy Crouch, the editorial director of Christianity Today, managed to do two things with a single essay: make me look much smarter than I am, and give me hope that the evangelical movement might actually learn something from this debacle of an election. First, making me look smart: I’m in Denver to speak at one of … More “Strategy Becomes Idolatry”: Christianity Today Against Evangelical Support for Trump
The Pietist Schoolman 