A year after we started with the oldest Christian tradition, Eastern Orthodoxy, this month we concluded the Following Jesus conversation with the newest branch in the family tree: Pentecostalism. Drew University professor J. Terry Todd alluded to the familiar origin story of Azusa Street in 1906 and quoted its most famous figure. But even as … More Following Jesus: The Pentecostal Tradition
We don’t live all that close to the places in Minneapolis and St. Paul that have seen actual violence in recent days. But last night we were told by a neighbor that a man with a semi-automatic weapon had been seen walking around our first-ring suburb, and Twitter reported that white supremacists were staying at … More The With-God Life: Breath and Fire
Over the past months of transition, challenge, and uncertainty, I’ve learned something about myself: I’m a Pietist. It may seem like an obvious statement from someone who wrote a book called The Pietist Option and keeps a blog called The Pietist Schoolman. But I’m seeing even more clearly than before just how central Pietism is to my understanding … More I’m a Pietist
There’s been more than a little Christian debate swirling around this year’s installment of Mothers’ Day. In part, it has to do with a certain enormously popular Southern Baptist layperson preaching — more on that later. But I’ve also seen a fair number of Christians on social media complain that Mothers’ Day is simply not … More The Mothers of My Faith
Thanks to Cheryll Fong, Joyce Denham, Pastor Matt Kennedy, and all my other wonderful hosts this past weekend at Minneapolis’ Bethlehem Covenant Church. We discussed the Pietist Option on Friday night and Saturday morning, then I preached this sermon on 2 Kings 2:1-15 at worship services on Sunday. Don’t let anyone tell you that God … More Set Down Your Mantle
I woke this morning to terrible news, just down the road. And took a shot at writing about it. Thanks to the many who read and shared that post, and to those who wrote back words of encouragement and counsel. But this terrible day ends with more death, as snipers opened fire on police at … More Dallas (One More Inadequate Response)
As I begin work on a book with one of its pastors about its theological heritage, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Evangelical Covenant Church. So with delegates from its congregations gathering in Phoenix, Arizona for our denomination’s annual meeting, I thought I’d share a few quotations from a few of my favorite Covenanters, clustered around our denomination’s … More Glad Hearts: Some of My Favorite Voices from the Covenant Church
His encyclical Laudato Si’ has received such enormous (and justifiable) attention this month that I wonder how many people have noticed two smaller events involving Pope Francis: • On June 15th, the pope met with Czech Christians whose churches descend from the 15th century renewal movement led by Jan Hus, a key precursor to the Protestant Reformation … More Christian Unity as “Reconciled Diversity”
Aside from noting the season finale of our department webisode series (on calling and careers) and the newest episode of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast (on sciences and visual arts within the liberal arts), the only new post at this blog was an overview of four key findings from the new Pew survey on this country’s changing religious landscape. … More That Was The Week That Was
Okay, let’s go back to Wesleyan University president Michael Roth’s claim that while he wants his students (even fellow secularists) to engage with religious ideas and feelings, he certainly isn’t “trying to make a religious believer out of anybody.” But as a Christian historian — and as a professor at a Christian college — aren’t … More Am I “Making Religious Believers” Out of My Students? (part 2)
The Pietist Schoolman 