During Bethel’s commencement exercises last month, our speaker told the soon-to-be graduates the story of the British evangelical politician William Wilberforce, who dedicated his life to the abolition of the slave trade (accomplished in 1807) and then slavery itself (just before his death in 1833). Up on stage among the berobed faculty, my friend Sam … More The Curious Case of the Popularity of Wm. Wilberforce
It’s the first full week of June, and that can mean only one thing if you’re a history nerd: time to get working on your summer reading list! I’ll be posting my own suggestions this week or next, but in the interim, here are some histories, biographies, and historical novels suggested by NPR, the L.A. … More It’s Summer Reading List Season!
While I struggle to get spring grades in, I’ll buy back some time by reposting some favorites. Today: my three-part series on my favorite baseball books. Check out the “tag cloud” on the home page of this blog, and you’ll find — amid all the terms related to Christianity, history, and education — one sport. … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Play Ball!
Today I’ll come back to my series on Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation, eds. John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller (University of Notre Dame Press). I should reiterate that I read the book alongside my students in HIS499 Senior Seminar, the capstone course for History majors at Bethel University. … More Confessing History: Theory and Method
As I mentioned here Monday, I spent last weekend presenting a three-part talk on church history to fellow members of Salem Covenant Church during our annual “family camp.” I’ll recap it in two three parts, starting today. Now, these talks are supposed to be “inspiring,” which is not a mode I normally think of as … More Church History as Family History (part 1)
Today I’ll continue my series on Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation, eds. John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller (University of Notre Dame Press) with a look at the book’s first part: a set of three chapters on what Miller (in his introduction) calls “that preeminently postmodern category and concern, … More Confessing History: Identity
Last Friday Bethel hosted its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies. Yesterday I posted a summary of Scot McKnight’s keynote talk, in which he suggested that evangelicals delve more deeply into the history of Anabaptism and Pietism. This morning: a recap of our post-lunch talk. Later today: recapping our closing session… In his keynote address, Scot … More Pietism Colloquium Recap: Jon Sensbach
In which Chris basks in the reflected glory that comes with having been a graduate student of a Pulitzer Prize winner… Lamentably still on my to-be-read-over-the-summer list, Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis’ magisterial biography of American diplomat George Kennan was yesterday named the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Called “an engaging … More Congratulations, John Lewis Gaddis!
This semester students in our capstone course, Senior Seminar, are joining me in reading through Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation (University of Notre Dame Press), edited by John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller. As we work through it, I’ll plan to share a few observations, starting today with Miller’s … More Confessing History: Introduction
4/13/12 – Hot off the press from Wipf & Stock, publisher of our The Pietist Impulse in Christianity, is another book about an “impulse” in Christianity. Edited by Jared S. Burkholder and David C. Cramer, The Activist Impulse: Essays on the Intersection of Evangelicalism and Anabaptism brings together chapters by John Roth, Steven Nolt, John … More The Activist Impulse
The Pietist Schoolman 