One more attempt to explain the inexplicable value of the liberal arts, and especially of the humanities, through metaphor. This one came to me last Tuesday and Wednesday, as I taught my World War II students about the end of the war in Europe. Like all such metaphors, it’s meant for musing. I almost hope … More The Purpose of the Liberal Arts is Purpose
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 class on World War II. So I started out with a meditation on Isaiah 60:1-2, one of the staple texts of the season. But rather than … More “Thick Darkness”: Further Thoughts on Looking Too Quickly for Light
Unsurprisingly, the blogosphere yesterday was replete with reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr. One particular genre of King tributes stood out: those that sought to recover what the authors claimed was a lost, neglected, or “whitewashed” facet of one of the few Americans to whom virtually all partisans appeal. One sub-genre: Christian attempts to remind … More Recovering MLK, the Christian Prophet
On the day this nation honors the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., let me repost something I wrote last year on the anniversary of his death. You’ll find similar points made this morning by Derek Rishmawy. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been much on my mind of late. And not just because yesterday marked … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: The Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Two weeks ago, I reported briefly on the panel devoted to A. Greg Roeber’s new book on early modern marriage at the American Society of Church History meeting in DC. During the session, I figured it was only a matter of time until the discussion turned to 18th century Moravians, who fostered an interesting view … More Sects and Sex
A few days into this centenary year of its beginning, the First World War is already prompting controversy: Yesterday New York Times Europe correspondent Alan Cowell checked in with an update on what remains an open question among historians: Was the outbreak of war primarily due to the reckless, cynical ambitions of German military and … More WWI at 100: Commemoration and “Political Correctness”
If it weren’t for the fact that the wind chill is nearing fifty below Fahrenheit here in the Twin Cities and Bethel has joined other colleges and schools in closing for the day, this afternoon I would be kicking off my new course on the history of World War II. Since today is also the … More “Thick Darkness”: An Epiphany Meditation on Teaching WWII
This weekend marks the 2014 winter meeting of the American Society of Church History. Annual ASCH meetings are always held in conjunction with the American Historical Association and also include a spotlight session organized by the Pietism Studies Group. Kudos to PSG president (and occasional Pietist Schoolman guest blogger) Christian Collins Winn for connecting with … More Pietism Studies Group in Washington D.C.
I think it was sometime in the fall of 2003, my first semester teaching at Bethel University, when I blurted out to members of my Modern Europe class something like, “You wouldn’t be interested in a course on the history of World War II, would you?” More than ten years and lots of student requests … More Previewing My New WWII Course
12/26/13 – Over at the Religion in American History blog, Brantley Gasaway was kind enough to draw readers’ attention to my Evangelical Theological Society paper that encouraged an international/transnational turn in the history of evangelicalism. (My paper was a response to David Swartz’s chapter on Latin American evangelicals in Moral Minority; Gasaway interviewed Swartz last … More Brantley Gasaway on My ETS Paper
The Pietist Schoolman 