We’re in the middle of a space planning conversation at Bethel, and I’m just hoping that we decide our department’s future location before this piece in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) has a chance to seep into anyone’s consciousness. I’m afraid some of our planners might be tempted by paragraphs like those below to think they … More No, I Don’t Want To Lose My Faculty Office
Here… • I know Americans love to rank things, but maybe not preaching, okay? • Another kind of ranking dispute got me thinking about how we decide what makes a college or university Christian. …There and Everywhere • I’ll have more to say about it on Tuesday at the Bench, but if you haven’t seen it … More That Was The Week That Was
I was busy last week writing a sermon and Pietist Option talk (more on those tomorrow) and so didn’t have a chance to blog about the latest fracas involving Liberty University and its controversial president, Jerry Falwell, Jr. A quick recap: • On Friday Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service reported that Liberty officials were eliminating its common … More What Counts as a Christian College or University?
Here… • Liberty University Online was the subject of a troubling profile, in which Pres. Jerry Falwell, Jr. celebrated how he had found “a way to tame” professors who objected to the program. (For a bit more interesting historical context, see Adam Laats on the long history of evangelical institutions using technology to do education … More That Was The Week That Was
If you want to feel sick to your stomach about this country’s largest Christian university, make time to read Alec MacGillis’ article on Liberty University for ProPublica. It’s not just that you’ll be reminded of Liberty president Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s alliance with Donald Trump and the damage it has done to the word “evangelical.” It’s the … More Falwell: “The big victory was finding a way to tame the faculty”
It’s April 14th, and we Minnesotans are in the middle of a blizzard warning. A perfect day, in other words, for staying inside to read some posts and articles you might have missed during the week. Here… • I reflected on the life and legacy of Adam Johnson, a particularly brilliant colleague who died of … More That Was The Week That Was
“There is a free speech crisis on campus,” wrote Sarah Jones yesterday for The New Republic, “but it’s not at Yale or Middlebury. It’s at Liberty University and schools like it.” In other words, the true threat to free speech in higher education does not come from leftist students and professors trying to stifle conservative voices, but … More Is There a Free Speech Crisis at Christian Colleges?
I know, there are a lot of ways you could fill in that sentence to make it a joke. But in seriousness, it’s struck me in the last few years that the rarest thing in higher education is a truly distinctive academic program. At least among four-year, residential, non-profit universities that lay any claim to … More The Rarest Thing in Higher Education Is…
It’s been a couple months since I last put together one of these weekend wraps. So I’ll ease back into the swing of things with a relatively short set of links. Here… • What’s next for The Pietist Option, now that’s it’s been out for six months? • Our Pietist Option devotional concluded with me reflecting on the Resurrection for … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • Looking for a free Lenten devotional? You’ve come to the right place. • Last Sunday I preached on the Ten Commandments, death, and other things. Your next chance to hear me preach (and teach) is February 9-11 in Minneapolis. • An interview with a former gymnast raised “important questions about church complicity in … More That Was The Week That Was
The Pietist Schoolman 