Category: Christianity

Bethel chapel in the library, 1973

Practice and Affection, Not Just Belief: Further Thoughts on How Colleges and Universities Remain “Christ-Centered”

November 20, 2014

Earlier this fall I shared the text of a brief speech I made to a Christian College Consortium symposium at Wheaton College: a Pietist perspective on what it means for schools like the CCC’s thirteen members to “stay Christ-centered.” I suggested that “staying” cannot be static and that “Christ-centered” must be understood in terms of … More Practice and Affection, Not Just Belief: Further Thoughts on How Colleges and Universities Remain “Christ-Centered”

IVP ad for our Pietism/higher ed book in the Fall 2014 issue of CCCU Advance

Puff Pietism! Let the Promotional Campaign Begin…

November 17, 2014

The prize goes to G.W. Carlson for being the first reader to spot an advertisement for our forthcoming book, The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education, on p. 40 of the fall issue of CCCU Advance. Leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you see it advertised elsewhere! And remember that you can preorder the book from … More Puff Pietism! Let the Promotional Campaign Begin…

How selected CCCU members mirror the minority populations of their metro areas

Do Christian Colleges Mirror the Diversity of Their Locales?

November 6, 2014

Last week my review of Department of Education data (via a Chronicle of Higher Education tool) found that Christian colleges were considerably less diverse than the national average, though perhaps a bit better in that respect than religious colleges as a whole. Picking up on my observation that West Coast members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities … More Do Christian Colleges Mirror the Diversity of Their Locales?

Mary Slessor and adopted children

History as Christian Testimony

November 4, 2014

Funerals make historians of us all. The death of a loved one compels us, individually and collectively, to slow down and dedicate ourselves to remembering. Sometimes the task warms our heart, sometimes it rips open old wounds; invariably, it leads us to make meaning of what came before, to reflect on how the past produced the present. So before my colleague … More History as Christian Testimony

Wells Cathedral

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Metaphors for Christian Liberal Arts

November 3, 2014

In the 3+ years of this blog, I’ve written often about the value of the liberal arts — particularly as an integral component of Christian higher education. While I’ve occasionally pointed to the instrumental benefits of such an education (provides a marketable skill set, prepares learners who can pick up new skills and thrive in grad/professional schools), I’ve … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Metaphors for Christian Liberal Arts

The Baptist Pietist Clarion logo

A New Issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion

October 30, 2014

10/30/14 – Hot off the presses, the October 2014 issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion is now available in print and online. Edited by fellow Pietist Schoolman G.W. Carlson, The Clarion offers reports, reflections, and reviews from people influenced by the Baptist and Pietist traditions. This issue focuses on missions and the growth of multicultural ministry, but it also includes a version … More A New Issue of The Baptist Pietist Clarion

Nyack College

How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

October 28, 2014

The current issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education focuses on the challenges facing African American college students, faculty, and administrators. Among the many pieces — one available to non-subscribers considers why so few black men go into STEM fields — one of the most useful is a tool compiling 2012 numbers from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to show the … More How Diverse Are Christian Colleges and Universities?

Dyersville Field of Dreams

Does Passion Distract from Calling?

October 23, 2014

Baseball is my favorite sport. Field of Dreams is my favorite movie about my favorite sport. Well, not really — it’s Bull Durham. But I like Kevin Costner’s second-best baseball movie well enough that I was all cued up to enjoy Jeffrey Huston’s recent On Faith post arguing that Field of Dreams — a quarter-century old this year — “is nothing short of … More Does Passion Distract from Calling?

Dürer drawing of hands folded in prayer

What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?

October 21, 2014

It’s one of my favorite teaching weeks of the year at Bethel University: Renaissance week in GES130 Christianity and Western Culture, the multidisciplinary course that’s at the foundation of most Bethel students’ general education experience. It’s not so much that I enjoy the Renaissance itself (I think we once devoted a whole segment of our CWC podcast … More What If Education Serves Primarily to Teach Us How to Pray?