Category: History

Alumni at war column from 1943 Bethel Clarion

My Summer Plans? A Digital History of a Christian College in Wartime

April 28, 2014

To this point in my career as a history professor, at least a couple of goals have eluded me: first, to engage in collaborative research and writing with a gifted undergraduate; second, to get some firsthand experience learning how digital tools (beyond WordPress, that is) can enrich the practice of history. I’m happy to announce that, thanks … More My Summer Plans? A Digital History of a Christian College in Wartime

Throckmorton & Coulter, Getting Jefferson Right

Should Christian Scholars be Watchdogs? An Interview with David Barton Critic Warren Throckmorton

April 25, 2014

Attention to David Barton’s treatment of Thomas Jefferson has died down since the controversy that led to Thomas Nelson rescinding their endorsement of The Jefferson Lies back in 2012. But Barton remains active and his popularity among the evangelical right’s rank and file has rebounded. Barton’s continued popularity, it seems to me, raises several issues … More Should Christian Scholars be Watchdogs? An Interview with David Barton Critic Warren Throckmorton

Church of the Mortal Agony of Christ

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Looking Too Quickly for Light

April 18, 2014

I originally wrote this near the end of my January course on the history of World War II. But it seems a better fit for Good Friday… It was a day into Epiphany — the Christian season of light, when Jesus is revealed in many and various ways as God — when I began my J-term … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Looking Too Quickly for Light

Plaque for Rochester's Soldiers Memorial Field

Reminder: My Talk on WWI Remembrance Is April 22

April 18, 2014

4/18/14 – Just a quick reminder for those of you who might happen to live in or near southern Minnesota… I’ll be speaking at the University of Minnesota, Rochester next Tuesday night, April 22, 7pm, as part of the UMR Connects series. My talk is entitled “‘Lest We Forget’: The Commemoration of World War I from Minnesota … More Reminder: My Talk on WWI Remembrance Is April 22

Winona Bible Conference, 1915

Introducing the Winona History Center at Grace College

April 11, 2014

The first time I heard about Winona Lake in northeast Indiana was during my research for my Masters thesis at TEDS. My project was a study of two Mennonite congregations in eastern Pennsylvania that were heavily influenced by American evangelicalism during the 1950s. The pastor of one of these congregations, an evangelist named John S. … More Introducing the Winona History Center at Grace College

WV emergency response team

The Conclusion of My Interview with David King on World Vision

April 4, 2014

Yesterday I posted the first part of my interview with historian David King, in which he discussed the origins of World Vision and its child sponsorship program. In today’s conclusion to that interview I asked David to talk about World Vision’s relationship to evangelicalism, and then the international character of World Vision, an aspect of the story … More The Conclusion of My Interview with David King on World Vision

World Vision logo

World Vision and Evangelicalism: An Interview with David King

April 3, 2014

Last week the U.S. chapter of the international Christian humanitarian organization World Vision made headlines: first when president Rich Stearns confirmed to Christianity Today last Monday that the organization would employ Christians in same-sex marriages, only to reverse the decision two days later, in the wake of torrents of criticism from conservatives, some of whom threatened to withdraw … More World Vision and Evangelicalism: An Interview with David King

Shantz, An Introduction to German Pietism

The Challenge of Introducing Pietism

April 2, 2014

In recent months I’ve been invited to review two books seeking to introduce English-speaking audiences to German Pietism: Douglas Shantz’s An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the Dawn of Modern Europe (Johns Hopkins University Press, paperback $31.50 on Amazon), and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom’s Angels, Worms, and Bogeys: The Christian Ethic of Pietism (Cascade Books, $15.20). While … More The Challenge of Introducing Pietism