There’s been more than a little Christian debate swirling around this year’s installment of Mothers’ Day. In part, it has to do with a certain enormously popular Southern Baptist layperson preaching — more on that later. But I’ve also seen a fair number of Christians on social media complain that Mothers’ Day is simply not … More The Mothers of My Faith
This week I paid tribute to my boss, reflected on Charles Lindbergh’s interest in primitive societies, and talked about college basketball and athletic labor. Elsewhere: • David Brooks offered one of the rarest spectacles in 21st century American political discourse: a pundit who was convinced by others’ arguments to change his mind on a controversial … More That Was The Week That Was
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
In spare moments between grading, I passed along the story of Bethel’s soon-to-be first Digital Humanities graduate and took note of a proposed culture war compromise involving evangelical colleges. Then over at The Anxious Bench, I suggested that no historian writes about the past “as it actually happened” without imagining the past as they think … More That Was The Week That Was
Yesterday Mennonite World Review reported that Fresno Pacific University (FPU) in California had removed the president of its seminary, Terry Brensinger, and announced that pastors Greg Boyd, Brian Zahnd, and Bruxy Cavey would no longer teach in the seminary’s M.A. program in ministry, leadership, and culture. According to MWR reporter Tim Huber, several students have complained to … More Open Theism, Evangelicalism, and Anabaptism (and Pietism)
If you’re a member of Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN but were traveling part of August… if you were a former student or colleague of G.W. Carlson and want to see me try to channel him a bit… or if your church isn’t able to bring in guest speakers but you’re interested in … More Watch a Pietist Option Class on YouTube
This Sunday I’m starting a four-part adult series on The Pietist Option at a church with special meaning for me: Central Baptist, in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota. See, Central was the church home of my late friend and mentor, G.W. Carlson, who was the first and most important source of my interest in … More The Pietist Option for Baptists
Here… • I wrestled with how and why Christians should pray for a political leader like Donald Trump. • My travels out east took me through Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — home of one of the most significant Moravian communities in history. • And if you’re interested in seeing other historic sites on your travels this summer, … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • Greetings from the East Coast! While I’m out here doing research, I’ll also be preaching or teaching at several churches. • A visit to the U.S. Holocaust Museum (and reading his daughter’s memoir) made me wonder again about Charles Lindbergh’s views on Jewish people. …There and Everywhere • Being in DC also gave … More That Was The Week That Was
Greetings from Virginia, where I’m commencing my summer travels on the East Coast! It’s my first big Lindbergh biography research trip: a few days this week at the Library of Congress, then several weeks in the main Lindbergh Papers at Yale University. But while I’m in a different part of the country working on my … More The Pietist Option Hits the Road
