I’m not an evangelical who retreats from the label “evangelical.” But the results of a survey released today by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) have me feeling embarrassed and angry about my branch of the Christian family. In the 2015 edition of its annual American Values Survey, PRRI asked about a number of topics, but coming a day … More Evangelical Islamophobia
In recognition of Veterans/Remembrance Day, Fletcher Warren and I are proud today to unveil the final version of Bethel at War, 1914-2014: A Digital History of a Christian College in a Century of Warfare. Whether you’re a Bethel alumnus, student, or employee, a member of its denomination, someone who’s interested in the histories of higher education, Christianity (especially … More At Long Last, the Official Debut of Bethel at War, 1914-2014!
This blog was quiet much of last week because I was busy attending the 2015 Symposium on Faith and Culture at Baylor University, on the theme of The Spirit of Sports. I won’t try to review every session that I attended — and I wasn’t there for the third and final day — but I thought I’d share a … More The Spirit of Sports
Growing up, my favorite two pages in any book were Hymns 381-382 in The Covenant Hymnal (1973): “Day by Day and with Each Passing Moment” and “Children of the Heavenly Father,” both originally written in Swedish by the great Lina Sandell. If the stale old joke is actually true and Swedish is the language of heaven, then surely the … More Children of the Heavenly Father
It’s October 31st, which means it’s time to continue an annual Reformation Day tradition: I don’t know how happy I ought to be that this video will probably end up being the most popular thing I’ve ever done. But for today, let’s embrace it, overlook all the terrible things that resulted from the Reformation, and … More Happy Reformation Day
On the eve of the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), historian William Ringenberg told WORLD Magazine that the debate over those schools’ decision to hire LGBT faculty was “traumatic” for Christian higher ed. In his judgment, only one other crisis had been more significant: … More The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education
If you’ve been reading this blog in recent months, you probably are familiar with the debate within evangelical higher education over the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite to hire LGBT faculty — and then those schools’ late September decision to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) rather than cause more of … More “Crisis Averted”: Christianity Today on the CCCU Debate over Sexuality
On Sunday I’ll be back at Calvary Church in Roseville, MN, teaching the second of six classes in an adult Sunday School series entitled “Turning Points: Global Christianity in the 20th Century.” As I explained to everyone last Sunday, I’m borrowing a concept from Mark Noll, who suggests that “One of the most interesting ways to grasp … More What Are Turning Points in the Global History of Christianity in the 20th Century?
It’s already been a good month for our book on Pietism and higher ed, between being named a finalist for a prestigious book prize and receiving a strong review from the dean of historians of Christian higher education. But if I can push our luck a bit… If you enjoyed The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: … More How to Nominate Our Book for a Readers’ Choice Award
Sharp-eyed readers might have noticed a new name popping up in the right-hand column of this blog, on my rotating list of “A Few of the Blogs, Publications, and Writers I Follow.” Adam Laats is historian of education at SUNY-Binghamton, currently writing a book tentatively titled Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education. (John Fea got … More I Love You, But…
The Pietist Schoolman 