This week I remembered the death of a friend and colleague and celebrated the release of a COVID vaccine by revisiting the story of the polio vaccine. Elsewhere: • With unemployment still high and new stimulus still being negotiated, more Americans are stealing food and other necessities. • Add Dave Ramsey to the list of prominent evangelicals … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I considered 2020 as the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment, reflected on the complicated emotions bound up in Veterans Day, and shared a digital preview of my Lindbergh biography. Elsewhere: • Even though the outcome of the election is clear, Donald Trump probably never will join the great American tradition of politicians delivering … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I considered the importance of Christian friendships between women and men and shared a bit more about the origins of our Faith and History devotional. (Click that link to learn how to pre-order with a publisher’s discount.) Elsewhere: • We’re now less than a month away from starting face-to-face classes at Bethel… I hope someone’s … More That Was The Week That Was
A funeral made me reflect on Thanksgiving, the approach of Christmas made me consider some gift options for history buffs, and I filled in some holes in my knowledge about the Salvation Army. Elsewhere… • Speaking of Salvationists… Stephen Carter cautioned progressives against boycotting the Army’s activities because of its stance on marriage. • Do I … More That Was The Week That Was
My first byline for Christianity Today is one of many new essays on the complicated meaning of Memorial Day. … More Memorial Day Reflections
I noticed the other day that Donald Trump’s name now appears in the list of this blog’s most popular tags. That’s disappointing on all sorts of levels, one of which is that I’ve tried hard this year to focus on the stated themes of this blog and not write as much about politics as I … More Two Problems with Mike Pence’s Naval Academy Address
How should we rank America’s presidents? C-SPAN asked ninety-one “professional observers of the presidency,” including historians Douglas Brinkley, Edward Crapol, Robert Dallek, Annette Gordon-Reed, Allen Guelzo, David Kennedy, and Walter McDougall. Each participant ranked our previous chief executives in ten equally weighted categories. You can find the full results here, but a few highlights: • The top four remained … More Ranking America’s Presidents
Here… • Bethel hosted another colloquium on Pietism (if you missed it, you can watch everything here), which made me think again about the notion of a “usable past.” • What happens when historians have too much evidence? • The War on Christmas is over. • I’ve decided to stick with Twitter and Facebook, but only for certain purposes. … More That Was The Week That Was
I’m taking a week off from blogging, but our podcast is back today with a new episode. If we consult the Holy Scriptures we can have no doubt that God promised his church here on earth a better state than this. Philipp Jakob Spener (1675) Given all the problems we discussed in our previous episode, why … More Thursday’s Podcast: Why So Hopeful?
“What’s wrong with Christianity in 2016?” Yikes. As I wrote here last week, I’ve been dreading this question since we decided that our book on “Pietism and the Future of Christianity” would mirror the structure of Philipp Spener’s Pia Desideria, whose first major section is a “Conspectus of Corrupt Conditions in the Church.” As I mused … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Wrong?
The Pietist Schoolman 