This week I recalled my late friend G.W. Carlson’s admiration for the Baptist activist Clarence Jordan, shared my friend Ruben Rivera’s passion for diversity and shalom, and talked about our favorite sports movies with my friends Sam Mulberry and Chris Moore. Elsewhere… • A reminder that Africa is fast becoming the home to the world’s … More That Was The Week That Was
Tomorrow’s 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses has inspired so many books, articles, blog posts, and other reflections that you might think there’s nothing new to say about the Protestant Reformation. Until, that is, you’re prompted to consider its relationship to African Christianity, both historical and contemporary. First, the history — courtesy of McCormick … More What Has Wittenberg To Do with Addis Ababa?
If your image of Christian higher education is a Donald Trump commencement address or a scandal-plagued football team, let me share a sample day in my life as a professor at Bethel University. Yesterday was atypical in a sense (no classes, since it was the study day that breaks up our final exam week), but it still provided … More A Day in the Life of a Christian College Professor
At least among Americans, I think, one of the least known consequences of World War II is that it left in its wake at least 50 million refugees — about one in 45 persons alive at the time. The policies of Hitler and Stalin had dislocated some 30 million persons just between 1939 and 1943, and millions more in … More World Refugee Day
“Lent means Spring,” Lutheran pastor-blogger Diane Roth reminded readers recently. “It means lengthening days, opening the windows, letting in life and death, the things we can’t control. It means going to the cemetery and standing in the mud and snow and grass, where the pain and the hope are all mixed up together.” It’s a … More Where Lent Does Not Mean Spring
As you’ve likely heard by now, the South African statesman Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela died earlier today at the age of 95. The reaction has been overwhelming; I’ll just sample a few responses. “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” lamented South African president Jacob Zuma. F.W. de Klerk paid tribute to the man whom was … More RIP Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
When I wrote a piece on religious persecution for All Saint’s Sunday, I pointed to some specific examples of Christians — and non-Christians — whose religious beliefs and practices put them at significant risk. I think it’s a serious problem, and plan to devote more attention than usual to religious freedom in my Human Rights … More How Many Christians Are Martyred Each Year?
Here… • I’ve never experienced anything remotely like the response generated by my open letter about Christian higher education. Thank you to the thousands who read it, and to the many who commented on the blog, at Facebook and Twitter, and via e-mail. I’ll have a follow-up post on Monday. • And thanks again to … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • I learned several important blogging lessons last week. First, if you want to drastically increase your traffic, then write about Millennials and/or Rachel Held Evans… then do it again… • …or question whether New York really is all that important to the future of evangelicalism… • …or whether research is actually the “coin … More That Was The Week That Was
When I teach my class on Human Rights and International History (as I will again next spring), few issues are as vexing as that of female circumcision, a practice that has affected something like 130 million women around the world — including 2-3 million girls each year in Africa alone. If you’re unfamiliar with it, … More Rights-Talk as Conversation, not Condemnation
