Tag: Bethel

Benson Great Hall at Bethel University

A Postscript to My Open Letter on Christian Higher Education

October 21, 2013

Last Tuesday I posted an open letter to American churches, describing what I see as the looming crisis facing Christian colleges like Bethel University and suggesting that one important facet of any lasting solution would be a renewed commitments by churches and denominations to financially support such institutions of higher learning. As I hinted in … More A Postscript to My Open Letter on Christian Higher Education

Crouch, Playing God

Andy Crouch on Power: Implications for Education?

October 11, 2013

I haven’t yet read Andy Crouch’s new book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, but it’s been hard to miss. An essay on power from Crouch is the cover story in the October 2013 issue of Christianity Today (where Crouch is now executive editor). Borrowing concepts from anthropologist Geert Hofstede, Crouch observes that American … More Andy Crouch on Power: Implications for Education?

Unidentified Paris church

My Talk on Pietism and Off-Campus Study: In Tweet Form

October 10, 2013

This morning I gave the second in a series of talks at the Bethel University Library that will preview chapters from our forthcoming Whole and Holy Persons: A Pietist Approach to Christian Higher Education. My topic was “Pietism from the High Sierra to the Somme: Holistic Education in the Ecclesiola of Off-Campus Study.” This is … More My Talk on Pietism and Off-Campus Study: In Tweet Form

Worship at Woodland Hills Church

The Church at the Intersection of Anabaptism and Evangelicalism

October 9, 2013

One of my favorite recent books is The Activist Impulse: Essays on the Intersection of Evangelicalism and Anabaptism, eds. Jared Burkholder and David Cramer. It helps me better understand my own interest, as a rather pietistic evangelical, in the Anabaptist tradition, and my reservations about it. While the contributors don’t shy away from the tensions … More The Church at the Intersection of Anabaptism and Evangelicalism

Moody Bible Institute

On Alcohol Bans at Christian Colleges

October 3, 2013

I’d rather it run a feature on the Bethel physics professors and alumni who have recently received National Science Foundation grants and fellowships, but The New York Times covers Christian higher education rarely enough that I suppose any press is good press. Re: Moody Bible Institute’s decision (reported here earlier) to lift its longstanding alcohol … More On Alcohol Bans at Christian Colleges

Bethel University: Community Life Center and Benson Great Hall

Announcing Our Forthcoming Book on Pietism and Higher Education!

October 1, 2013

It’s probably too early to start shopping for Christmas 2014, but if you like to plan ahead… I’m happy to announce that I’m editing a book tentatively titled Whole and Holy Persons: A Pietist Approach to Christian Higher Education, hopefully coming out next fall from InterVarsity Press. As longtime readers know, this topic has been … More Announcing Our Forthcoming Book on Pietism and Higher Education!

Drought in Texas, 1955

Fruit in Drought

September 28, 2013

As I wrote this post yesterday, I was being shadowed. It was the first time I’ve had anyone ask about setting up a job shadow, and while I was happy to give it a try, I also worried that it would chiefly consist of the student sitting and watching me type at my laptop (with … More Fruit in Drought

Bethel University: Community Life Center and Benson Great Hall

The Value of the Christian Liberal Arts: A Bethel Alum Speaks

September 26, 2013

My time at Bethel didn’t prepare me to do any specific job, but it prepared me to be the person that I am. Fun as it is for a college professor like me to explore metaphors for the Christian liberal arts — spiritual retreat, cathedral construction, and a Lord of the Rings-like quest — it’s … More The Value of the Christian Liberal Arts: A Bethel Alum Speaks

Entrance to LeTourneau University

Well-Paid (or Meaningful) Work as a Measure of Higher Education

September 18, 2013

Well, my vow not to parse any more college rankings lasted about five weeks. Right up until… wait for it… Now. Last week the New York Times highlighted a website called PayScale.com, which released its annual ranking of just over a thousand American colleges and universities. Here’s the hook: PayScale doesn’t look at reputation (U.S. News) … More Well-Paid (or Meaningful) Work as a Measure of Higher Education