My colleague Sam Mulberry and I are about halfway through the first online version of one of Bethel’s signature courses: GES130 Christianity and Western Culture. (Look for some reflections on that experience in August.) We’ve reconfigured what had been a lecture-discussion course, building it instead around documentary films, virtual museums, and daily writing assignments. We’re … More Happy Birthday, John Calvin
My colleague Christian Collins Winn has an article in the Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care that should be of interest to many readers of this blog. In it he asks: What has “spirituality” to do with “social justice”? What has “prayer” to do with “action”? What has the … More Christian Collins Winn on Spirituality and Social Justice
7/8/13 – Readers of this blog will likely enjoy The Baptist Pietist Clarion, an annual newsletter edited by occasion Pietist Schoolman contributor G.W. Carlson. Its newest issue is now available for download: in addition to several pieces on Martin Luther King, Jr., it includes Jonathan Larson’s eulogy for Virgil Olson, the Baptist historian paid tribute … More The July 2013 Baptist Pietist Clarion
Which patriotic hymns are most popular? Have they changed over time? Researching an Independence Day post in which I didn’t exactly gush with enthusiasm at the inclusion of patriotic songs in American hymnals, I discovered Hymnary.org, “a comprehensive index of hymns and hymnals” supported by the Hymn Society, Calvin College’s Institute of Christian Worship, and … More “Of thee I sing”: A Brief History of Patriotism in American Hymnals (part 1)
Because this country’s Independence Day falls on a Thursday this year, I’m sure there will be churches that celebrate it on the Sunday before July 4 and the Sunday after it. Past the celebration of Communion, I’m not sure what we have in mind for the 7th at Salem Covenant, but aside from the American … More Christians, Patriotism, and Nationalism
7/1/13 – In this morning’s post I focused on a famous European battle that started on July 1st, but of course, today also marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the central battle of the U.S. Civil War: Gettysburg. I posted some links on that battle and its commemoration over at our department blog.
On the single day of July 1, 1916, over 19,000 British soldiers died along France’s Somme river, slaughtered in largely futile assaults on German defenses that had survived the week-long artillery bombardment preceding the attack. The battle raged on until mid-November, with over 75,000 more British soldiers dying and 300,000+ being wounded. British photographers on … More This Day in History: The First Day of the Somme
A brief follow-up to Tuesday’s post, “The Humanities in Crisis, or Not“… Historian Ben Schmidt (by way of journalist Jordan Weissmann) argued that any fear that the humanities (history, philosophy, literature, languages) are in crisis should be tempered by the reality that (aside from an outlying boom that peaked in 1966) those disciplines have about … More Curriculum and the Health of the Humanities
Today G.W. Carlson concludes his two-part tribute to Will D. Campbell, the minister, writer, and activist who died earlier this month. His first post concluded with one major theme in Campbell’s life and work: his understanding of what it meant to be a Baptist, as influenced by the Anabaptist tradition. GW continues with two more … More Will D. Campbell: A Radical Baptist Peacemaker (G.W. Carlson) – part 2
Last week was a great-horrible week for those of us who teach fields like history, philosophy, languages, and literature (hereafter, “the humanities”) and wanted to be reminded (a) how essential we are and (b) how much of a crisis we’re in. Among other happenings, the New York Times published a column by David Brooks lamenting … More The Humanities in Crisis, or Not
The Pietist Schoolman 