For most of the 2010s, my Bethel colleague Sam Mulberry and I had the joy of leading a biennial travel course on World War I in western Europe. Spending that time crisscrossing western Europe was such a highlight of my teaching experience that I decided to see if there might be any non-students interested in … More Announcing Our June 2023 Tour of Germany
Any reasonable, empathetic person can find any number of reasons to find troubling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The suffering, dislocation, and grief that any war inflicts on anyone in its path. The odiousness of Vladimir Putin, who had the gall to say that one goal of his “special military operation” was the “denazification” of Ukraine: … More Thoughts on Ukraine
One of the Christmas Eve services I attended virtually on Thursday, the late one at my father-in-law’s church, began with chronology: (he’s a Lutheran, but this comes from a Catholic source) The Twenty-fifth Day of December… …in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldees; in the … More Twelve Days: The Fullness of Time
Behold, three ways I’m tempted to read and misread today’s lectionary selection from Revelation, which begins with an angel calling out: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons,a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast.For all the nations have … More The With-God Life: The Fall of Babylon
This week I engaged in some hopeful thinking about the future of the humanities, announced my first online adult ed course, recruited some Anxious Bench colleagues to join me in identifying non-religious turning points in religious history, and recorded podcasts about math and e-sports. Elsewhere: • Another week, another inspector general fired after he tried to … More That Was The Week That Was
…they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the … More The With-God Life: Palm Sunday
I thought through the educational implications of a Pietist motto, updated my speaking schedule for 2019-2020, and interviewed the author of a helpful new book on Christians who support Donald Trump. • Another way of looking at Red State Christianity: from the point of view of American evangelicals who live in England, came home for … More That Was The Week That Was
Apart from an Anxious Bench post on the new Christians Against Christian Nationalism statement, I took the week off from blogging to finish moving into my new office and to read through several years’ worth of Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s diaries and letters. Elsewhere: • If you can see any shades of gray on the debate over abortion, you’ll want … More That Was The Week That Was
I don’t think I have the energy to lead a European tour every summer, so as I look ahead to the future of Pietist Schoolman Travel, I’ve got U.S. history topics in mind for 2020 (the sports history tour I mentioned yesterday) and 2022 (more on that tomorrow or Thursday). But I do love to take … More Future Tours: Christianity and Western Culture
While I was arguing with a John Mulaney joke and recording a podcast about the history of sports journalism — and promoting four other podcasts about the past, other people were using the Internet for other, generally more constructive purposes: • Best of all… While I’m sure Nadia Bolz-Weber likes to think of herself as … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 