Ever since I entered the world of Christian higher education, I’ve been bumping into people connected to Messiah College. And that pattern has only amplified since I started researching Pietism. So it was perhaps inevitable that I would find my way to Grantham, PA… It was a rich, full day yesterday at Messiah. Let me just share … More My Visit to Messiah College
4/30/15 – Sara Shady and Amy Poppinga guest on episode 3 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast to talk about love, hospitality, courage, and the importance of Christian colleges building bridges across religious and other borders. You can find that episode and all others on iTunes or via the Christian Humanist website.
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of taking five Bethel University students to Mankato, Minnesota, where Bethany Lutheran College hosted the second annual Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium. (#1 was at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul; #3 will be at Bethel next spring.) Thanks to @RyanCMacPherson and @BethanyLutheran for hosting a great #muhs2015! pic.twitter.com/PWQfixivkp … More Christianity and Western Civ
4/23/15 – On episode #2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, I’m joined by theologian Christian Collins Winn for a conversation about civility, academic freedom, being Baptist, ACC basketball, and why Pietists like Philipp Spener and the Blumhardts have “hope for better times.” Check out Christian’s book with Roger Olson, Reclaiming Pietism, and the collection he edited with John Drury, Karl Barth … More Thursday’s Podcast: Hope for Better Times
April 16th is finally here, which means that the first episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast is available on iTunes! It features my recent conversation with Roger Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylor’s Truett Seminary and author of numerous books, including The Journey of Modern Theology and Reformed and Always Reforming. Of course, Roger also contributed … More The Pietist Schoolman Podcast Debuts Today… with Roger Olson
Having spent a couple of posts last week unpacking Liberty University’s ambition (and the older one of Baylor University) to become “the Protestant Notre Dame” — and asking just what that meant, I’m surprised it took almost four days to see this comment appear: The question isn’t so much whether Liberty is a Protestant Notre Dame, … More Notre Dame and the Idea of the Catholic University
If not, this week is a great time to check in with Past & Presence, the weekly webisode series that Sam Mulberry and I have been producing with our colleagues and students in the Bethel University History Department. Today’s episode — #9 — is just packed with good stuff: As usual, I moderate everything with interstitial clips in … More Have You Seen Our Department Webisode Yet?
Several members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) appeared on a recently-released list of 560 institutions of higher learning whose federal aid has been restricted by the U.S. Department of Education, in many cases because of financial concerns. Under secretary of education Ted Mitchell explained that what the department calls “Heightened Cash Monitoring is not necessarily … More Christian Colleges among Those Named by Department of Education for Financial Scrutiny
Just what would make Liberty University — or Baylor University or any other claimant to the title — “the Protestant Notre Dame“? Among other fine responses to my post on this topic yesterday, Aaron Morrison suggested that Liberty president Jerry Falwell, Jr. “needed to clarify what he meant by ‘Notre Dame’” before deeming his school … More Further Thoughts on the “Protestant Notre Dame”
Last month I spent spring break visiting my parents in southwestern Virginia. Thanks to bad weather in Roanoke, our plane was diverted to nearby Lynchburg, where I walked out of the terminal and saw a sprawling university campus a stone’s throw away: Liberty University. Liberty’s president — Jerry Falwell, Jr. — has ambitious goals, reports Slate staff writer Betsy Woodruff: “Falwell … More Is Liberty University the “Protestant Notre Dame”?
The Pietist Schoolman 