Category: History

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Announcing My New Blogging Gig: The Anxious Bench

June 7, 2016

I’m happy to announce that, starting next week, I’ll be a regular contributor at The Anxious Bench, a group blog on the Patheos Evangelical channel. I’ll be filling the Tuesday slot occupied by Bench co-founder Thomas Kidd, who will be blogging for The Gospel Coalition when he’s not churning out award-winning books about 18th century American religious history. Even … More Announcing My New Blogging Gig: The Anxious Bench

"Please wait here until you are useful"

What Makes the Humanities “Useful”?

May 31, 2016

Jim Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, took to the pages of the Los Angeles Times yesterday to argue that there’s nothing “useless” about a major in History. In fact, he contended, it has tremendous economic utility: The utility of disciplines that prepare critical thinkers escapes personnel offices, pundits and politicians (some of whom perhaps would prefer … More What Makes the Humanities “Useful”?

Episode 9 of Sectarian Review

The Sectarian Review on “David Barton and the End of History”

April 27, 2016

We’re coming up on the end of the season 2 of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, with only one or two more episodes remaining after tomorrow’s discussion of education. But if you’d like to find something new to listen to after we go on hiatus, you need not look further than the many other excellent podcasts on the Christian … More The Sectarian Review on “David Barton and the End of History”

Resume with glasses

Why Businesses Ought to Hire History Majors

April 26, 2016

We’re finally starting to wind down the academic year here at Bethel. But while this is a time of endings for professors, for many students it’s a time of new beginnings: For our seniors, it’s a time to interview with prospective employers. For high school seniors coming here in the fall, it’s a time to start signing … More Why Businesses Ought to Hire History Majors

Image of a cross casting a shadow on a grave

To Be a Historian Is To Speak over Gravesides

April 25, 2016

The title of this post has been running through mind for several months now. I’m still not sure I know what to do with that idea, but I’ve been sitting on it long enough. Time to think out loud and see if anything sticks. In a figurative sense, I stand by gravesides most of the time I teach classes, write articles … More To Be a Historian Is To Speak over Gravesides

CWC 30 Cake

6 Reasons to Watch a 40-Minute Tribute to a 30-Year Old Western Civ Course

April 22, 2016

A list, but it can’t be click-baity with this kind of bait, right? So this past Tuesday my friend Sam Mulberry and I got to co-host a special presentation in the Bethel University Library: a walk down memory lane for GES130 Christianity and Western Culture, a staple of Bethel’s gen ed curriculum for three decades now. While it was … More 6 Reasons to Watch a 40-Minute Tribute to a 30-Year Old Western Civ Course

Pietist Idea of a Christian College word cloud

Save the Date: The 2016 Bethel Colloquium on Pietism Studies

April 14, 2016

Today I’m happy to announce an event that will be of interest to many who read this blog, listen to its podcast (new episode coming later today!), or might be anticipating our forthcoming book on Pietism: The 2016 Bethel Colloquium on Pietism Studies Tuesday, December 13, 2016, 9:00am-3:30pm Bethel University – St. Paul, MN I’ll be … More Save the Date: The 2016 Bethel Colloquium on Pietism Studies

Green, Christian Historiography

Back to Basics: What It Is Christian Historians Do

April 11, 2016

Over the last three weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time talking with undergraduates about what it is that Christian historians do — and how, if at all, it’s different from what non-Christian historians do. • To help my Intro to History students prepare to write a preliminary statement of what they think it means to “think … More Back to Basics: What It Is Christian Historians Do

18th c. Moravian illustration of receiving new brothers

Thursday’s Podcast: The Common Priesthood for the Common Good

April 7, 2016

Like earlier Pietists, Mark and I tend to feel like what we have to suggest isn’t all that new. This episode — like the one before it — we revisited an idea from the Protestant Reformation. Last time, it was sola Scriptura; this week, the common priesthood. (And yes, we talked about why we’re using that version of the ideal, … More Thursday’s Podcast: The Common Priesthood for the Common Good