Category: History

Huguenot families going into exile in 1661

“By the Rivers of Babylon”: Thoughts on Exile for the 4th of July

July 3, 2017

Invited to Rochester, New York to speak in July 1852, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass asked if his listeners meant ” to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?” After all, he said, “This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” Being asked to celebrate a slaveholding country as a former slave brought to his … More “By the Rivers of Babylon”: Thoughts on Exile for the 4th of July

God's Glory, Neighbor's Good cover

Pietism on Amazon Prime!

June 5, 2017

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been happy to cheer on fellow Covenanters Mark Safstrom and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom as they worked with filmmaker Tim Frakes on a documentary entitled God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good: The Story of Pietism. Here are a couple of short clips, from filming at the Hauge Museum in Norway and at the Copenhagen … More Pietism on Amazon Prime!

Byrd, Sacred Scripture, Sacred War

Public Uses of Romans 13 in American History

May 30, 2017

Last Friday I took issue with Vice President Mike Pence’s commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy, in part because he exhorted graduates to “Follow the chain of command without exception. Submit yourselves, as the saying goes, to the authorities that have been placed above you.” His allusion to Romans 13:1-2 (or 1 Peter 2:13-14) got … More Public Uses of Romans 13 in American History

Scholastic teaching at the University of Paris in 14th century

The Lecture Lives. I Would Know — I’m a Professor.

May 16, 2017

Okay, let’s try this again: the college lecture is neither obsolete nor fool-proof. Like anything, it can be done badly, but rightly understood, it’s still a highly important mode of teaching. Two reasons I’m thinking about a topic I’ve addressed several times before: First, Wired just offered another of its biennial critiques of the lecture. Entitled “The Traditional … More The Lecture Lives. I Would Know — I’m a Professor.