“He was brilliant,” said his friend Joel Frederickson of our late colleague Adam Johnson, at the Bethel memorial service this morning. “But he never acted like he was brilliant.” Over and over that hour, we heard students, alumni, and friends bear witness to Adam’s humble brilliance. But the meaning we most often attach to the … More Be Thou My Vision
If you want to feel sick to your stomach about this country’s largest Christian university, make time to read Alec MacGillis’ article on Liberty University for ProPublica. It’s not just that you’ll be reminded of Liberty president Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s alliance with Donald Trump and the damage it has done to the word “evangelical.” It’s the … More Falwell: “The big victory was finding a way to tame the faculty”
The Bethel community lost one of its most brilliant members this week. Adam Johnson, a neuroscientist who taught in our Psychology department, had first been diagnosed with cancer in 2010. After initial treatment, doctors discovered more tumors and told him his condition was terminal. Six years later, Adam finally died on Tuesday morning. In Bethel’s … More RIP Adam Johnson
“There is a free speech crisis on campus,” wrote Sarah Jones yesterday for The New Republic, “but it’s not at Yale or Middlebury. It’s at Liberty University and schools like it.” In other words, the true threat to free speech in higher education does not come from leftist students and professors trying to stifle conservative voices, but … More Is There a Free Speech Crisis at Christian Colleges?
I’ll leave it to actual American historians like my Anxious Bench colleague Kristin Du Mez to explain the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. on this, the 50th anniversary of his assassination. But one topic about which I can perhaps say something meaningful is MLK’s response to the Reformation initiated by his namesake. (As you may know, … More Martin Luther King, Jr. on Martin Luther
Hard to believe, but today marks exactly six months since The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity, my book with Mark Pattie, officially came out. In that half-year, The Pietist Option has sold far more copies than the other books I’ve been part of, been reviewed by Christianity Today (very positively) and The Gospel Coalition (less so), been given … More What’s Next for The Pietist Option?
As we wake to the Resurrection dawn of Easter, Mark Pattie (Lino Lakes, MN) brings our devotional near to its conclusion. Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. (John … More A New Day
Our Holy Saturday post comes from Jason Barnhart (Ashland, OH), director of Brethren research and resourcing for The Brethren Church. You can read more from him at his blog, Tethered Freedom. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human … More Harrowing
I think of my friend Steve Pitts (Minnetonka, MN) as the Platonic ideal of a Covenant pastor: irenic, thoughtful, compassionate, and personally devoted to Jesus Christ and the whole mission of the church. So I was very happy that he was willing not only to write for our Lenten devotional, but to take a reflection … More Entering Into Darkness: A Spiritual Discipline
We’ve reached Maundy Thursday in our Pietist Option devotional. Thanks to Kurt Frederickson (Simi Valley, CA) of Fuller Seminary for sharing today’s reflection. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you … More Stooping Before Each Other
