If you have any interest in the future of Christian higher education — and especially if you’re an employee, alumnus, student, or friend of Bethel University — let me point you to my article in the Summer 2015 issue of Bethel Magazine. (You can click here, or turn to p. 24 in the embed below.) Entitled “Faith-Filled Tradition, … More A Pietist Vision for a Christian University
Over the weekend I had the pleasure of taking five Bethel University students to Mankato, Minnesota, where Bethany Lutheran College hosted the second annual Minnesota Undergraduate History Symposium. (#1 was at the University of Northwestern – St. Paul; #3 will be at Bethel next spring.) Thanks to @RyanCMacPherson and @BethanyLutheran for hosting a great #muhs2015! pic.twitter.com/PWQfixivkp … More Christianity and Western Civ
We’ll have some new guest posts at the end of the week, but little from me while I spend Bethel’s spring break in Virginia with my parents. But it’s been a while since I’ve reposted any “best of” material, so I’ll share one from each year this blog has been published — in part to … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Emmaus Education
Copies are already being delivered, but one week from today is the official publication date of The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons. The seed of the idea for this book was planted over eight years ago, so it’s beyond exciting finally to hold the book in my hand. But more so, to anticipate … More Pietist Vision Previews: Background
Earlier this fall I shared the text of a brief speech I made to a Christian College Consortium symposium at Wheaton College: a Pietist perspective on what it means for schools like the CCC’s thirteen members to “stay Christ-centered.” I suggested that “staying” cannot be static and that “Christ-centered” must be understood in terms of … More Practice and Affection, Not Just Belief: Further Thoughts on How Colleges and Universities Remain “Christ-Centered”
The last two days I was honored to take part in a Christian College Consortium (CCC) gathering at Wheaton College. Our delegation from Bethel was assigned to help lead the Tuesday morning discussion, of what it means for colleges and universities to stay Christ-centered. I’m grateful to our president, Jay Barnes, for inviting me to prepare some remarks stemming from … More Staying Christ-Centered: A Pietist Perspective (My Remarks to the Christian College Consortium)
On Friday morning I sent back the index and corrected proofs for The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons; Friday afternoon I opened our mail to find said book gracing the pages of InterVarsity Press’ new titles announcement for Winter 2015. And then here it is at the IVP website. I’m … More Now Available for Preorder: The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education!
Today’s “best of” post comes from late April. It came to mind because I’ll be spending today and tomorrow doing exactly the kind of work that puts me at risk of what Parker Palmer called “functional atheism… the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: When I’m a “Functional Atheist”
It’s going to be an unusually busy summer week for this college professor, so in place of new posts, enjoy a few of my favorites from the first half of 2014. We’ll start with my attempt to sketch a Pietist alternative to the scholarly model known as “faith-learning integration” — a three-part series that represented … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: A Pietist Model of Christian Scholarship
For years after King’s death, many white Christians continued to eye him with suspicion, even as families like mine proudly displayed his portrait on our walls. Today, in an era when all fifty U.S. states now observe the King holiday and a resplendent monument to the man stands in our nation’s capital, it’s difficult to … More Birmingham Revolution: How to Silence a Prophetic Voice
The Pietist Schoolman 