In part because he wrapped up the Republican race so quickly, it’s almost been treated as a footnote that Mitt Romney will soon become the first member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to receive the presidential nomination of a major American political party. As the Washington Post noted in a late … More The Mormon Moment
That’s the question asked by political scientist Tony Gill on his podcast, Research on Religion, of three Christian scholars familiar with religion and politics in 18th century America: Gregg Frazer (The Master’s College), Jonathan Den Hartog (Northwestern College, MN), and Mark David Hall (George Fox University). More specifically, he asked each: “As a Christian in … More Should Christians Have Fought in the U.S. War of Independence?
Yesterday in Kiev, Spain routed Italy 4-0 to win the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, a tournament that (for many Europeans and no small number of non-Europeans) is only slightly less significant than the other international sporting competition with which it shares a quadrennium. As I wrote about early in Euro 2012, one match between … More Soccer and Nationalism
Two days back from vacation and it’s been hard to get back into the blogging swing of things. So I’ll tread water a bit by passing along the tiny, surreal bit of YouTube celebrity to which my friend Sam just drew my attention. It features Matt Richards, senior pastor of Sidney Lutheran Brethren Church in … More My (Minor) YouTube Moment
It’s tricky, but here’s how to tell the difference between me and Aaron Sorkin, creator of the new HBO series The Newsroom. We both possess honors that have eluded the other: I don’t have an Emmy or an Oscar, but he doesn’t have a teaching award from Bethel University or a “Best Daddy Ever” card … More Aaron Sorkin (and I) Love the 1940s
The first birthday of this blog is coming up on Wednesday, which means that I’ve spent the weekend thinking back over the past twelve months, and observing some common themes. One, starting early in the history of the blog and popping up periodically ever since, has been the challenge of defining Pietism. In our Pietist … More Tim Keller on Reformed “Pietism”
We’re one of those households that gets by without cable or satellite. Most of the time, that’s fine with me: Hulu, NetFlix, and digital broadcasting provide more than enough entertainment/information options. But that does mean that I’m missing out on the first of two terrific sporting events to happen in Europe this summer. The London … More The Cold War Continues… in Sports
On Monday one of my colleagues, joking about the growth of “Leadership Studies” programs, suggested that we should probably offer a “Followership Studies” minor. From his mouth to God’s ear. Or, at least, to David Brooks’… Maybe before we can build great monuments to leaders we have to relearn the art of following. Democratic followership … More David Brooks, Erasmus, and Luther Walk into a Bar…
Surely one of the most absurd-sounding titles in the brief history of this blog, but no, I’m not just trying to grab attention. (Well, that too, but…) This question came up in researching the article I mentioned in my Carl Lundquist post yesterday morning (which, coincidentally, also mentioned our 37th president). As part of my … More Richard Nixon: Pietist?
John Turner, one of the contributors to the new Patheos blog The Anxious Bench, wrote last week about the 40th anniversary of Explo ’72, which brought over 80,000 youth together in Dallas’ Cotton Bowl for several days of preaching (Billy Graham six times), evangelistic classes, and music. A closing festival drew an even larger crowd … More Evangelicalism and Youth Culture, 1967-1972
The Pietist Schoolman 