Of the eighteen questions drafted by the Montana 8th grade history class that I Skyped with last week, this was the one I dreaded most. Naturally, it came up pretty quickly… Who is your favorite historical figure? Now, I’ve been to graduate school, so I’ve learned a thing or two about how to avoid answering … More Good Questions: Who Is Your Favorite Historical Figure?
In our Christianity and Western Culture program at Bethel, we refer frequently to the biblical image of being surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses.” In my experience, few witnesses have been greater than the Dutch-born writer known as Erasmus (1466?-1536). In class yesterday I mostly presented Erasmus as exemplifying how the “Catholic Reformation” … More The Education of a Christian President
On Monday one of my colleagues, joking about the growth of “Leadership Studies” programs, suggested that we should probably offer a “Followership Studies” minor. From his mouth to God’s ear. Or, at least, to David Brooks’… Maybe before we can build great monuments to leaders we have to relearn the art of following. Democratic followership … More David Brooks, Erasmus, and Luther Walk into a Bar…
Happy Reformation Day, everyone! My friend Sam and I made this video for Bethel’s Christianity and Western Culture class several years ago. (The words are by a Lutheran pastor from Iowa.) Remarkably, it’s now been seen well over 120,000 times on YouTube, and it never fails that we run into or hear from excited students … More This Day in History: “Papal Bulls, Indulgences, and Transubstantiation!”
The Pietist Schoolman 