In his scathing review (“pretty much an adventure in missing the point”) of Randall Balmer’s scathing review of Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, philosopher Jamie Smith took particular exception to Balmer’s observation that “institutions, in my experience, are remarkably poor vehicles for piety.” My post that follows isn’t actually … More Anti-Anti-Denominationalism
Today I’ll continue my series on Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation, eds. John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller (University of Notre Dame Press) with a look at the book’s first part: a set of three chapters on what Miller (in his introduction) calls “that preeminently postmodern category and concern, … More Confessing History: Identity
Last Friday Bethel hosted its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies. I’ve earlier posted summaries of Scot McKnight’s keynote address (on Anabaptism, Pietism, and evangelicalism) and Jon Sensbach’s post-lunch talk (on Afro-Moravian Christianity in the mid-18th century). This afternoon: a few highlights from the roundtable discussion that I moderated. In 2009, we hosted a research conference … More Pietism Colloquium Recap: Roundtable on Pietism’s “Usable Past”
Last Friday Bethel hosted its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies. Yesterday I posted a summary of Scot McKnight’s keynote talk, in which he suggested that evangelicals delve more deeply into the history of Anabaptism and Pietism. This morning: a recap of our post-lunch talk. Later today: recapping our closing session… In his keynote address, Scot … More Pietism Colloquium Recap: Jon Sensbach
Last Friday Bethel hosted its inaugural Colloquium on Pietism Studies, a one-day gathering that I hope to see become a biennial or triennial event. (It came three years after we hosted an international research conference on “The Pietist Impulse in Christianity.”) Thanks to our generous and supportive deans (Deb Harless and Barrett Fisher, in particular) … More Pietism Colloquium Recap: Scot McKnight
In which Chris basks in the reflected glory that comes with having been a graduate student of a Pulitzer Prize winner… Lamentably still on my to-be-read-over-the-summer list, Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis’ magisterial biography of American diplomat George Kennan was yesterday named the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Called “an engaging … More Congratulations, John Lewis Gaddis!
This semester students in our capstone course, Senior Seminar, are joining me in reading through Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation (University of Notre Dame Press), edited by John Fea, Jay Green, and Eric Miller. As we work through it, I’ll plan to share a few observations, starting today with Miller’s … More Confessing History: Introduction
My wife and I were blessed to be part of a very special wedding yesterday. Among many other memorable elements of the occasion, the New Testament text that our friends chose stood out: Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in … More “One in spirit and of one mind”
4/13/12 – Hot off the press from Wipf & Stock, publisher of our The Pietist Impulse in Christianity, is another book about an “impulse” in Christianity. Edited by Jared S. Burkholder and David C. Cramer, The Activist Impulse: Essays on the Intersection of Evangelicalism and Anabaptism brings together chapters by John Roth, Steven Nolt, John … More The Activist Impulse
In a sure sign that I’m either avoiding grading or preparing for a new episode of The Policast, I spent an hour of my life this week investigating this marginally interesting question: How good are political pundits and reporters at prognosticating the “veep-stakes”? That is, once a nomination for U.S. president is sewn up, how … More Veep-Stakes
The Pietist Schoolman 