Not just Boxing Day, Return Unwanted Gifts Day, or Two Turtle Doves Day, the second day of Christmas has enormous theological importance: It reminds us that when the angels returned to the realms of glory and the shepherds to their fields, Mary and Joseph still had a child to parent. What does it imply that … More “What Child Is This?”
The most important historian in my life is the one who described his research project in this way: Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the … More Merry Incarnation
Yesterday ended up being an unusually frenetic Sunday in our household. My brother and sister and their families came over to celebrate our twins’ birthday. Before that, we had to clean the house in a hurry — what our mom calls a “white tornado.” Before that, there was waiting at the pharmacy to pick up … More God as Semicolon
December 2, 1859 – John Brown is hanged I tend to sympathize with the many those historians who dislike slavery and John Brown, in that order. [I’m going to backtrack a bit here — I’m quickly realizing that I’m just an amateur when it comes to this aspect of US history; I ought not to … More This Day in History: John Brown’s Body
If I could do it all over again, I might be a sports historian. Growing up, I was an indifferent athlete but an inveterate fan: able to play just about every sport, but none of them well (though I did manage to letter twice in baseball, which tells you a lot about my alma mater‘s … More Beyond Muscular Christianity
The banner image running across each screen of this blog is cropped from a 1601 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, “Supper at Emmaus.” (Congratulations to Rachel Neiwert for winning yesterday’s challenge!) The story of the risen Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples traveling to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) has special meaning for me, in … More Emmaus Education
A series of posts taking you day-by-day through a proposed travel version of my course HIS230L World War I. Read the introduction to the series here, or the previous post here. Friday, January 4, 2013 – flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul to London On Day 2 (well, that evening and into the morning of day 3, … More Travel and Sojourning
The Pietist Schoolman 