Since today is a particularly significant Reformation Sunday, I’m going to forego my usual weekend links wrap and instead repost an updated version of my most recent piece for The Anxious Bench. “A red-letter date looms,” wrote Tal Howard in one of his many recent books, “31 October 2017, the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, the widely recognized … More 3 Ways to Remember the Reformation
It’s counterfactual week on The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, as Sam and I conjure up thought experiments in which the Reformation either happens before Martin Luther comes on the scene, or proceeds in a timeline from which he’s been somehow removed. Featured Book Carlos Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 Other Readings It doesn’t touch on the Reformation, but … More Thursday’s Podcast: Could the Reformation Have Happened Without Luther?
A couple times in the past twelve months I’ve praised From Bubble to Bridge: Educating Christians for a Multifaith World, by my Bethel University colleagues Marion Larson and Sara Shady. Before it came out in January, I called it “the first must-read Christian book of 2017,” and quoted the foreword by interfaith activist Eboo Patel: From … More Including Evangelical Students in Interfaith Work
I’ve been awaiting this week with bated breath: the first magazine reviews of The Pietist Option have come in… And they’re pretty terrific! This morning in Christianity Today, Hannah Anderson gives our book four stars. The review is behind the CT paywall (and I think will be in the November print issue), but here’s a taste of … More The Pietist Option Gets a Four-Star Review in Christianity Today
The newest episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast is now available! It features Sam and me talking about the Christianity that lies on the other side of 1517: the faith of the Middle Ages. We covered everything from grace and penance to Incarnation and sacramentalism, plus medievals’ relationship to the past. Our featured book this week is … More Thursday’s Podcast: Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
On the season debut of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast last week, we were looking at prior Reformation anniversaries when Sam asked a really good question about the 500th anniversary of that event: “Do you think in 2017 in America, this is going to break through into popular culture?” Probably not, I said on the fly, unless “you … More Is Your Church Marking #Reformation500?
On Friday, President Trump told participants in the Values Voter Summit that “We are stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values.” Now, critics found it hard to take the “Judeo” part seriously, given that Trump immediately followed that line with another version of his pledge to restore “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” And it’s … More The Anti-Fascist Origins of “Judeo-Christian Values”
If Beyoncé and Wilco can drop surprise albums, I can drop a surprise podcast season… After taking some time off to turn our second season into this book, I’m happy to announce the sudden return of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast for a special third season: six or seven episodes clustered around the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. That is: … More Season 3 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast: The Reformation at 500
I once wrote a post explaining three reasons that I’m “almost a Lutheran.” But given how Amazon has categorized my latest book, I’m wondering if I need to drop the modifier. I know enough to know that being the “#1 Best Seller” in an Amazon subcategory doesn’t mean that I should start cashing my royalty … More Am I a Lutheran?
I promise I’ll get back to blogging about other topics soon, but this is book release week, so I hope you’ll indulge one more Pietist Option post… We turned in the first draft of the manuscript about eleven months ago, and Mark and I (plus various people at InterVarsity Press) have read it many times since. But … More Early Reader Reviews of The Pietist Option
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