This week I considered the problem of evangelical catechesis, reflected on the length of biographies, and reported on the Anabaptist round of the Following Jesus conversation. Elsewhere: • The history of the American Civil War led Dan Williams to wonder “why, despite abundant historical and contemporary evidence that biblical interpretations vary widely, does the Bible continue … More That Was The Week That Was
This week I reflected on history as a kind of spiritual discipline appropriate to the Christian season when we contemplate sin and mortality (“like any Lenten discipline, such study is also a way of encountering the Christ who redeemed those sins, and seeing the world more as he saw it”). Elsewhere: • Speaking of contemplating mortality… … More That Was The Week That Was
We’ve still got some one-on-one meetings left to go, but today was the last full meeting of my Fog of War class. I always struggle to know how to wrap things up, especially after a course as wide-ranging as this one and after a semester as pandemic-shaped as this fall. But it occurred to me … More Education as Thinking about Dying
O that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would conceal me until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If mortals die, will they live again? (Job 14:13-14a) The Book of Job is not something that you just dip into. One of the most complicated … More The With-God Life: “Will they live again?”
“What is bringing you life this season?” That’s one of the two questions one of our campus pastors asked me to think about, for a short series of daily videos he’s recording with various Bethel employees. (Here’s what my friend Sara said.) “What is bringing me life?” I’ve still got a few hours before I … More The With-God Life: “Living is Christ and dying is gain”
In the midst of a drought, God sent the prophet Elijah to Zarephath, where he had “commanded a widow there to feed you” (1 Kings 17:9). Elijah finds her and directs the woman to bring him “the morsel of bread in your hand.” She replies: As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, … More The With-God Life: The Widow of Zarephath
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, … More The With-God Life: Lazarus
When I wasn’t researching the history of a much-loved children’s hymn, I was reading the following posts and articles: • Last week I mentioned the local Methodist church that received national attention for its supposed plan to expel older worshippers. That story inspired Emily McFarlan Miller to report on the larger challenge of “restarting” declining … More That Was The Week That Was
About thirty years ago, I got to know a fellow middle schooler named Kimberly Weaver. She was both smarter and funnier than me, and while we went to different schools, I was glad that church gave us twice-weekly opportunities to connect. But she went to college at Bethel, while I headed east. Coincidentally, I joined … More RIP Kimberly Weaver Olson
This week I wrote about the religious history of lumberjacks, nominated the best years in sports history, and suggested seven questions that Christian colleges should ask potential presidents. Elsewhere: • It was an impressively eclectic week at The Anxious Bench. In David Swartz’s post on the faith(s) of a popular game show host and John Turner’s review … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 