Buchenwald was one of the most infamous concentration camps in the Nazi system, the final resting place of over fifty thousand victims. But until my colleague Sam Mulberry and I went there last month on our week-long tour of Germany, I didn’t know all that much about Buchenwald — including the fact that it has two … More When One Dictatorship Commemorated Resistance to Another
Some of what I was reading last week: • As a historian, I often wrestle with the pull of nostalgia. As Michial Farmer explained, it might be that such longing for the past has its uses. • It was 250 years ago that British soldiers killed five colonial protesters in Boston. “Such commemorations offer opportunities … More That Was The Week That Was
I have to admit: I’d never heard the name Ernst Lohmeyer before I reviewed James Edwards’ new biography of that German theologian and biblical scholar for the current issue of Christianity Today. But the more I read Between the Swastika and the Sickle (Eerdmans, $30.00 in hardcover), the more I could see how Lohmeyer could … More Between the Swastika and the Sickle
On Friday, President Trump told participants in the Values Voter Summit that “We are stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values.” Now, critics found it hard to take the “Judeo” part seriously, given that Trump immediately followed that line with another version of his pledge to restore “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” And it’s … More The Anti-Fascist Origins of “Judeo-Christian Values”
Next month is a big one for Americans with an interest in World War I, since it marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. belatedly joining that war. Here in St. Paul, for example, I’ll be taking a group of Bethel students to the April 8th opening of WW1 America, a major new exhibit from the … More Commemorating Catastrophe: Jay Winter on Remembering WWI
I’d be thrilled to have any chance to write for Christian History Magazine, a venerable publication that has been teaching ordinary Christians about their history since 1982. But I’m especially honored that I got to contribute an article on Christians and National Socialism to an issue dedicated to one of my favorite topics: the Christian experience of … More Christians, National Socialism, and the World Wars
Consider these quotations, coming from two Baptist preachers speaking at either end of the 1960s: 1. …although communism can never be accepted by a Christian, it emphasizes many essential truths that must forever challenge us as Christians. Indeed, it may be that communism is a necessary corrective for a Christianity that has been all too passive and … More Can Culture Call Christians Back to Christ?
Having started the week by sharing an article questioning whether we really ever learn “lessons” from the past, let me close the week by considering another way that Americans commonly try to make the past useful: by deploying it as a rhetorical weapon in the most heated debates of the present day. Two versions of this come up a lot. … More The Wrong Side of History
10/27/14 – If you’re in the Twin Cities, you can catch me this Saturday morning, Nov. 1st, 10:00, at the Minnesota Genealogical Society. I’ll be speaking on the history of Poland in the century since 1914, with particular emphasis on the Polish experience of Communist rule. More broadly, I’ll have us think about the nature … More This Saturday: My Talk on Poland since 1914
Earlier today I walked into my office and found a lovely little gift basket of chocolates, courtesy of our department’s wonderful undergraduate teaching assistants. “Happy May Day!” read the card. Of course, given the way that May Day is celebrated in most of the world, this should prompt me not only to endorphin- and Toblerone-fueled good … More Happy Loyalty Day
The Pietist Schoolman 