Come back in a couple days for an exciting announcement about a new blogging gig of mine… but first, here’s some of what was blogged about last week. Here… • How should the Church respond to Donald Trump? By “telling it like it is.” • Are historians and other humanists leaning too heavily on “utilitarian” apologetics? Yes (not that I’m going to stop trying … More That Was The Week That Was
During our travels over the holiday weekend, we visited a church and witnessed an odd, telling moment. Looking for a negative sermon illustration at one point, the pastor spontaneously mentioned “the presidential candidate who says he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness.” As best I can recall, the pastor didn’t even say Donald Trump’s name, but he clearly thought he had crossed … More “Tell It Like It Is”: How the Church Should Respond to Trump
Here… • Before I get to more recent links… Today my colleague Stacey Hunter Hecht would have turned 48. In case you missed it, I wrote not long ago about how mourning her death (and that of our mutual colleague G.W. Carlson) has reshaped some of my thinking about what it means to be a historian. … More That Was The Week That Was
If you’ve been waiting for Mark — one of the best preachers I know — to talk about preaching and proclamation, this episode is for you. If you’ve been waiting for Sam to help us think through the importance of Christians taking up what Krista Tippett calls a “ministry of listening,” this episode is also for you. And if … More Thursday’s Podcast: Preaching (and Listening)
Last week I was part of a discussion at Bethel about what defines “the humanities.” I bit my tongue, but I was tempted to say, “A perpetual sense of crisis.” And perhaps “crisis of the humanities” talk has been overblown. I wrote a whole post about this nearly three years ago, noting historian Ben Schmidt’s finding that (aside … More Are the Humanities in Crisis at Christian Colleges?
Here… • This is normally not a blog about politics. But there was nothing normal about Donald Trump becoming the presumptive nominee of a major political party. • Trump famously promises to “Make America Great Again.” Which got me wondering if “Make the Church Great Again” is a valid aspiration for Christians — and if so, when was the Church … More That Was The Week That Was
I’m kind of amazed how many people actually took me up on the offer to read a long, untitled post yesterday about Donald Trump — and grateful for the kind, thoughtful responses here, on Facebook, and at Twitter. I’ll likely wait till next week to publish a follow-up, but when I write again on Trump, I … More “Make the Church Great Again”?
The first rule of driving traffic to your blog is to give each post an eye-catching title, since that’s as far as most potential readers will get. But I’m going to leave this one untitled because I don’t want anyone offering a knee-jerk reaction to a five- or six-word headline. See, this one is about Donald Trump. And … More Untitled
A week ago I asked, and many of you answered: “What are some indispensable Christian academic Twitter accounts?” Not just Christian scholars — like me — who mostly use Twitter to point to other platforms but those “who are using Twitter to engage each other and the public, or to curate ideas for their followers. Regular, thoughtful retweeters are as … More 7 Indispensable Christian Academic Twitter Accounts
Here… • I returned from a couple weeks of little to no activity here with some reflections on my principles for blogging. • I guessed that some share of Christians who are done with the label “evangelical” might actually embrace “Pietist” as an alternative. • And I argued that Christian unity is a task for Christian formation, … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 