In 1975 Great Britain held a referendum on its 1973 admission to what was then still the European Economic Community. By a two-to-one margin, British voters ratified their country’s new role in Europe. In nine days, they will revisit that decision with another referendum, one that could well end with Britain negotiating a withdrawal from the European … More British Christians Debate “Brexit”
Because I work for a member institution of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) and study evangelical models of higher education, I occasionally need to be reminded that the CCCU represents only a fraction of the colleges and universities related to Christian churches. But after consecutive weekends in which I attended the seminary graduation … More The Humanities in Church-Related Higher Ed: A Broader View
Last week faculty at Mount St. Mary’s University voted overwhelmingly to request that president Simon Newman resign. We’re now past the deadline they set, and I haven’t seen any such announcement. Frankly, I don’t expect one. Not only do 75% of students support his leadership (according to a survey conducted by the student government over the … More “Change is Hard”: Lessons (and Non-Lessons) from Mount St. Mary’s
Here… • My colleague, friend, and mentor G.W. Carlson passed away on Friday morning. I expect that I’ll have more to say next week, but until then, here’s the tribute I wrote on the occasion of his retirement. • The behavior of the president of Mount St. Mary’s, a small Catholic university, got me to sign a … More That Was The Week That Was
I’m not much of a petition-signer. But today I added my name to this petition, and I hope that those of you who consider yourself part of what the author calls “the community of scholars” will consider doing likewise. It’s a response to the recent behavior of Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Newman came … More If You Value Academic Freedom, Consider Signing This Petition
Here… • What qualities should Christian voters seek in political candidates? (Thanks to Mennonite World Review for picking up this post.) • We’ll be asking what’s wrong with Christianity when we record next week’s newest episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, but I suggested that I shouldn’t really try to answer that question until I’m ready to answer a … More That Was The Week That Was
“We live in a political world,” Bob Dylan once sang, “Where mercy walks the plank.” It’s a world, after all, where even a democratic socialist promises a “merciless” response to a vicious attack. Where a leading Republican presidential candidate can be criticized by a leading conservative columnist for engaging in a kind of discourse “marked by what you … More Oh Mercy
If you’re looking for a Christian historian-blogger to cover Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, John Fea is probably your go-to source. But let me share a brief post on an easy-to-overlook dimension of the event: what Francis means for Catholic colleges and universities. While Francis’ first public mass in the U.S. will be held today … More Pope Francis and the Idea of a Catholic University
Here… • Devin Manzullo-Thomas returned with a second CCCU-inspired post on the relationship between Anabaptists and Evangelicals, this one featuring former Eastern Mennonite and CCCU president Myron Augsburger. (Thanks to both Real Clear Religion and Mennonite World Review for reposting this one!) • Thanks in part to some Anabaptist studies of my own, I felt led to wrestle aloud … More That Was The Week That Was
There are other things I’d love to see my university get recognized for, but if hilarious pictures of our nationally-ranked football team are going to get Bethel publicity, so be it. Apparently, this all started a few years back when now-assistant coach Jesse Phenow (also a Pietist Schoolman guest-blogger, I should point out) took this picture. When roster photo-taking time rolled … More Christianity, Comedy, and Joy
The Pietist Schoolman 