Author and activist Shane Claiborne calls on Christians to “practice resurrection” and get in the way of death. Here’s how Christian historians do just that. … More To Be a Historian Is To Practice Resurrection
Why Christian blogging is less like teaching or preaching than a serious-playful way of “thinking about God in public.” … More Thinking about God in Public: Some Reflections on Being a Christian Blogger
God, according to the Bible, “has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecc 3:11). I try to keep this wisdom in mind, as a scholar who is too prone to assume that his discipline has a monopoly on human … More In Which a Historian Learns to Embrace Nostalgia…
Just a quick post today to let you all know that InterVarsity Press has made a couple of important decisions about The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity, my forthcoming book with Mark Pattie: They’ve moved up the publication date to this September It will be released in hardcover So it’s still a few … More The Pietist Option: Publication Date and Pre-Ordering
The real evangelical “crisis of authority” is that evangelical women have little authority. The other “crisis” is neither new nor necessarily a crisis. … More The Evangelical “Crisis of Authority” (It’s not just for women bloggers)
It’s been a few weeks now since a Washington Post profile of Second Lady Karen Pence reminded everyone of comments made by her husband back when he was still an Indiana congressman: that Mike Pence “never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won’t attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side, … More The Graham Rule and Barriers to Women in Leadership at Christian Colleges
In one of my favorite episodes of one of my favorite TV series, the fictional town of Springfield takes a second shot at Prohibition and Homer Simpson becomes a bootlegger. As “Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment” ends, with everything returned to normal, Homer stands on a pyramid of kegs, hoists a beer, and proposes a toast: I thought of … More To Evangelicalism! The Cause of — and Solution to — Most of Its Own Problems
This year our church’s Maundy Thursday service began with each person at our table drawing from a bag the name of a disciple. For the rest of the service, we’d then try to imagine the story from the point of view of that follower of Jesus. My son, for example, drew Simon the Zealot. Fittingly, I … More Pilate’s Holy Saturday
I’m happy to report that, last Friday morning, Mark Pattie and I submitted our revised manuscript for The Pietist Option: Hope for the Renewal of Christianity. I don’t yet have a publication date to share, but one way or another, it’s a huge step forward. And it means that I can return to blogging this week… I’ll … More There Is No Calling Without Community
I hadn’t realized how much I would miss Glen Wiberg until halfway through worship last Sunday at Salem. As soon as I opened the bulletin and saw a Lina Sandell song listed as the pulpit hymn, I knew my voice would tighten. But the tears began to flow as I looked over to Glen’s former spot in … More “Plotting the Resurrection”: Final Thoughts on Glen Wiberg
The Pietist Schoolman 