“What’s wrong with Christianity in 2016?” Yikes. As I wrote here last week, I’ve been dreading this question since we decided that our book on “Pietism and the Future of Christianity” would mirror the structure of Philipp Spener’s Pia Desideria, whose first major section is a “Conspectus of Corrupt Conditions in the Church.” As I mused … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Wrong?
Embedded in last week’s post about how Christian voters evaluate political candidates was an educational issue: How do colleges decide which speakers to invite to campus? First, Oklahoma Wesleyan president Everett Piper, who made clear that he and his institution — unlike Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Liberty University — would not invite one particular Republican presidential candidate to speak: In selecting … More Bringing Politicians to Christian College Campuses
After a midwinter break, Mark Pattie and I are preparing to record the next podcast in our series thinking aloud through the book we’re writing for InterVarsity Press, tentatively called Hope for Better Times: Pietism and the Future of Christianity. The structure of our book will mirror that of Pia Desideria, the 1675 booklet published by the Lutheran pastor … More What’s Wrong with Chris(tianity) in 2016?
I observed late last month that the candidacy of Donald Trump should push pastors — and others looked to for pastoral counsel — to take up the work of political theology and help their parishioners answer questions about Christian participation in politics. With the Iowa caucuses just hours away, at least one such question has come … More What Qualities Should Christian Voters Seek in Political Candidates?
“We live in a political world,” Bob Dylan once sang, “Where mercy walks the plank.” It’s a world, after all, where even a democratic socialist promises a “merciless” response to a vicious attack. Where a leading Republican presidential candidate can be criticized by a leading conservative columnist for engaging in a kind of discourse “marked by what you … More Oh Mercy
So if Pietism is an ethos or spirit, where can you see it today in Christianity? Who or what exemplifies the instincts we talked about last time? On today’s episode, Mark, Sam, and I share some of our experiences with Pietism in the Evangelical Covenant Church and at Bethel University (two Christian institutions that explicitly claim … More Thursday’s Podcast: Pietists Today
I’ve already written one post criticizing the president of Liberty University for making imprudent comments at that school’s convocation. So I’ll leave it to others to say what’s on my mind about Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s introduction to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday: This would be hilarious if it weren't so counter to the mission of … More The Pastoral Challenge (and Opportunity) of Donald Trump
For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day… Here’s a series of three posts I wrote in the summer of 2014, inspired by Ed Gilbreath’s Birmingham Revolution, on King’s famous letter from a jail in that Alabama city. Gilbreath (author of Reconciliation Blues and executive director of communications for my denomination) provides enough biographical and historical context that I began to realize just how little … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Birmingham Revolution
This morning’s new episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast finds Mark Pattie and me talking about a question that’s foundational to the book we’re going to be writing this year: What is Pietism? And, almost as importantly, what is it not? Anti-intellectualism, legalism, quietism… though the seeds of such pathologies are present in the Pietist “instincts” that we … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Pietism?
If I could have our book on Pietism and higher education reviewed in just one journal, it would be Christian Scholar’s Review, meant as it is to encourage reflection on “the integration of Christian faith and learning” and discussion of “the theoretical issues of Christian higher education.” So I can’t thank John Hawthorne enough for sharing his thoughts on The Pietist … More The Pietist Vision in Christian Scholar’s Review
The Pietist Schoolman 