A Pietist Model of Christian Scholarship: Transformation and Character

In the first part of this post, I offered a Pietist critique of “the integration of faith and learning.” Today, as I continue to rework my recent presentation to Bethel’s annual faith-learning faculty workshop, I’ll tentatively suggest how Pietism might offer an alternative to the “integrationist” model of Christian scholarship. (I had intended this to be a … More A Pietist Model of Christian Scholarship: Transformation and Character

Check Out the Christ and University Blog

One of the blessings of taking a two-week break from blogging myself is that it gave me time to catch up on some other blogs. One is Christ & University, a newer group blog that I’d particularly recommend to those who come to The Pietist Schoolman for reflections on the intersection of Christianity and education. Featuring a roster of scholars from … More Check Out the Christ and University Blog

The Pietist University in the 21st Century (part 3)

I concluded the second part of this preview of the conclusion to our forthcoming book on Pietism and Christian higher education (IVP, late 2014) with the sentence that provides the essay its title: “…Pietist educators ought to bear one principle in mind: Their mission does not depend on innovations; their mission is innovation.” Explaining what … More The Pietist University in the 21st Century (part 3)

Virgil Olson: A Faithful Disciple of Jesus Christ (G.W. Carlson) – part 1

As mentioned here last week, Virgil Olson, a longtime professor at what’s now Bethel University and the leading historian of what used to be the Baptist General Conference, died last Tuesday at age 96. His friend G.W. Carlson offered to share this two-part tribute with readers of this blog. (Previously, GW has contributed essays on … More Virgil Olson: A Faithful Disciple of Jesus Christ (G.W. Carlson) – part 1

Douglas Shantz’s An Introduction to German Pietism

The revival of Pietism studies continues! As of last week, the newest book published by Johns Hopkins University Press is An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the Dawn of Modern Europe, by Douglas Shantz. Holder of the chair of Christian thought at the University of Calgary, Shantz contributed a chapter to our Pietist … More Douglas Shantz’s An Introduction to German Pietism

“Jesus within us”: Pietism in the Brethren in Christ Church

I linked to it on Saturday, but the Spring 2013 issue of In Part, the denominational magazine of the Brethren in Christ Church (BIC), deserves its own spotlight here, since it focuses on Pietism. It’s the second in a series of four special issues, each focused on the four theological traditions that have shaped the … More “Jesus within us”: Pietism in the Brethren in Christ Church

Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Terror, Secularization, and “Imaginative Understanding”

While I work on another post for Tuesday, enjoy this post from last fall prompted by the collision of a couple of discussions in one of my signature courses at Bethel. In the last two weeks of my Modern Europe course, we’ve twice run headlong into the hardest question historians ask: Why? First, I had … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Terror, Secularization, and “Imaginative Understanding”

Roger Olson on Pietism and Postmodernism

For once, it was easy this week to know where to start my post-vacation ritual of sifting through stacks of new publications requiring some reading attention: with Roger Olson’s article in the Summer 2012 issue of Christian Scholar’s Review, “Pietism and Postmodernism: Points of Congeniality.” A refined version of the second of two lectures he … More Roger Olson on Pietism and Postmodernism