No one has done more to inspire and encourage me in my own blogging than John Fea, professor of history at Messiah College and author of several books on American history (as well as a great introduction to the discipline that I’ll be teaching again this spring). So I’m happy to see that he has finally … More John Fea Is On the Move — and On the Air
Today is the 4th anniversary of the founding of this blog. Come back Monday for a look back; meanwhile, here’s what was making news in the last week of our fourth year: Here… • Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins might have written the best history of Baptists in this country… but here’s what they missed about … More That Was The Week That Was
J. D. Woods, a professor in the Art Department here at Grace and an acoustic musician, is one my favorite colleagues and he often gets asked to perform with his guitar or banjo. I can easily see Pete Seeger’s influence on his life. Yesterday morning, I found the following note from him in my inbox: … More A Colleague Remembers Pete Seeger
Here… • Having to teach a new course on the history of WWII for three hours each afternoon during Bethel’s J-term has definitely made it a challenge to find time for blogging. But getting ready for that course also yielded this meditation for Epiphany, on finding light in the “thick darkness” that covered the earth … More That Was The Week That Was
One of the most interesting cultural histories I’ve read is The Mansion on the Hill, former Rolling Stone editor Fred Goodman’s sprawling, well-researched examination of the development of the “rock and roll business” from the Sixties through the Eighties — how rock went from being a partner of “a counterculture professing to be so firmly against … More Albums A to Z: Nebraska
Here • What, you say you’d like some advice on how to use a State Department document in your prayer life? Sure, no problem. • Diana Butler Bass calls it “Christianity after religion”; Jay Phelan says it’s actually “neo-Pietism.” Me? Well… • I strove to follow the injunction of Psalm 34:14 (per this translation) with … More That Was The Week That Was
I happen to agree almost entirely with John’s column, but that’s irrelevant. Even if I didn’t share some of his disappointment in Obama the president vs. Obama the candidate, or if I didn’t think that Obama was unusually explicit about his faith by contrast with most of his predecessors in the White House, I’d still … More We Take Care of Our Own: Standing with John Fea
Here • Two more posts on how World War I has been commemorated in western Europe, the first focused on German military cemeteries in Belgium and France and the second on memorials in two large German cities. • And for good measure, a link to an op-ed piece in the New York Times about why … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 