This week I checked in on responses to my essay about how Pietists follow Jesus and considered some history of how Americans have used the imprecatory psalms. Elsewhere: • The latest story of workplace sexual harassment is set in the offices of evangelicalism’s flagship publication: Christianity Today (as reported in CT itself). • Religion journalist Jack Jenkins … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I shared a free discussion guide for my Lindbergh biography and previewed the upcoming meeting of the Conference on Faith and History. Elsewhere: • My Anxious Bench colleague Nadya Williams (whose Jewish grandmother survived the German invasion of the Soviet Union) reflected on the Holocaust for the day set aside for its remembrance. (With … More That Was The Week That Was
This first week of 2022 I previewed some upcoming Lindbergh events and reflected on whether Christians ought to treat biography as hagiography, hamartiography, or something else. Elsewhere: • Yesterday my university decided to shift most classes online for the remainder of our J-term. I’m fine with that in our situation, but there are good reasons to … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I reflected again on what I’ve learned about history from eulogizing friends and found some common ground between Anglicanism and Pietism. Elsewhere: • “Greeting everyone with ‘Happy Holidays’ at Christmastime,” warned one Hindu writer, “disrespects and dilutes the meaning of Christmas without making religious minorities feel authentically included.” • The early leader for biggest grinch … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I looked at the religious biography of a Minnesotan who was known for technological innovation and died on Hawaii. Not Charles Lindbergh, but Medtronic founder Earl Bakken. Elsewhere: • For Reformation Day, a Lutheran meditation on the importance of singing in church. • Two years after Rachel Held Evans died, her last book is coming … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I reported on my adult Sunday School class about evangelicalism and checked in on how Lutherans follow Jesus, while a couple of student journalists at Bethel wrote about me and my new book… which was reviewed in Front Porch Republic and the Portland (ME) Press Herald. Elsewhere: • If you’re not already reading … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I questioned my own skepticism about miraculous healing. Elsewhere: • Half of the country’s Christian congregations have 65 or fewer attenders — half what the attendance level was at the start of the century. • Meanwhile, not quite half of Americans have watched church online during the COVID pandemic — and one-third of them don’t normally … More That Was The Week That Was
Our sports podcast, The 252, returned to today with a new episode that looked back, at what’s happened since our Tokyo Olympics preview, and ahead, to the coming NBA season. In segment one, Chris, Sam, and I reviewed some favorite Olympic events and talked about what to expect in Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024. We … More Tuesday’s Podcast: The Ministry of an NBA Chaplain
This week I revisited a mid-1950s Bethel talk about Pietism and considered whether a university like ours can truly satisfy all of its external constituents. Elsewhere: • My favorite post this week at The Anxious Bench found David Swartz visiting thriving churches in a northeastern city that white evangelicals tend to view as highly secular. • I’ve … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I published a book (thanks to a lot of work by a lot of other people), battled the impostor syndrome, and explained what I think the “applied humanities” are. Elsewhere: • I don’t know what to say about the stunning scenes in Afghanistan… The collapse of the Afghan army had deep roots, and, … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 