Tag: Justice

Micah 6:8 displayed in the Bethel Business department

Following Up: Micah 6:8 in American Rhetoric

July 28, 2016

Last week my Anxious Bench colleague John Turner drew our attention to America’s Public Bible, a new project by Lincoln Mullen. A leading digital historian who works (like John) at George Mason University, Lincoln describes APB in this way: America’s Public Bible uncovers the presence of biblical quotations in the nearly 11 million newspaper pages in the Library of Congress’s … More Following Up: Micah 6:8 in American Rhetoric

Castile protest outside the Minnesota governor's mansion

An Inadequate Response to Two More Shootings

July 7, 2016

On days when I don’t want to take a freeway from one Twin City to the other, I sometimes drive down a road called Larpenteur Avenue. (It changes names when it reaches Minneapolis.) Because I’m normally impatient, I tend to push the speed limit when it drops to 30 mph. Because I’m normally a rule-follower, that means that I tend … More An Inadequate Response to Two More Shootings

Green, Christian Historiography

Back to Basics: What It Is Christian Historians Do

April 11, 2016

Over the last three weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time talking with undergraduates about what it is that Christian historians do — and how, if at all, it’s different from what non-Christian historians do. • To help my Intro to History students prepare to write a preliminary statement of what they think it means to “think … More Back to Basics: What It Is Christian Historians Do

Year of Mercy logo

Oh Mercy

January 22, 2016

“We live in a political world,” Bob Dylan once sang, “Where mercy walks the plank.” It’s a world, after all, where even a democratic socialist promises a “merciless” response to a vicious attack. Where a leading Republican presidential candidate can be criticized by a leading conservative columnist for engaging in a kind of discourse “marked by what you … More Oh Mercy

Coates, Between the World and Me

Truthful, Hopeful: A Christian Reflection on History

December 14, 2015

I’ve spent a lot of time this year trying to convince Christians to live “not as a people of fear, but as a people of hope.” Just last Thursday, in the midst of my grief at losing a dear friend, I concluded that “Contemplating the possibility of Stacey’s death had deepened my conviction that the Apostle Paul was right, that those … More Truthful, Hopeful: A Christian Reflection on History

Leith Anderson

Who’s an Evangelical?

November 20, 2015

So I was all ready to take up the questions that closed my last post — Who’s an evangelical? and What shapes their response to issues like the refugee crisis? — when the National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research announced their own answer to the first question. As reported by Bob Smietana of Christianity Today: “Evangelicals are people … More Who’s an Evangelical?

Worship at the 2015 Mennonite World Conference

How Peacemaking Helps Frame the Context of Anabaptism, Sexuality, and Higher Education

October 6, 2015

The first of two guest posts this week comes from our friend Jared Burkholder, chair of the History and Political Science Department at Grace College. The rhetoric that has surrounded the recent controversy in the CCCU and the departure of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University has underscored, at least for me, the way Anabaptist … More How Peacemaking Helps Frame the Context of Anabaptism, Sexuality, and Higher Education

U.S. Supreme Court building

A Day of Listening: Andrew Sullivan on Marriage

June 26, 2015

Yesterday morning I had the chance to talk to a group of pastors pursuing their D.Min. degrees. Invited to share a parting comment, I encouraged them to cultivate what Krista Tippett has called a “ministry of listening.” I suggested that that was particularly true for us white, straight, middle-class men in America who are accustomed to having our … More A Day of Listening: Andrew Sullivan on Marriage

Fujimura, "12th Night"

A Week of Listening: Makoto Fujimura on Hope, Beauty, and Justice

December 4, 2014

Today let me invite readers to listen to a different kind of voice. While the artist Makoto Fujimura was speaking the night before the grand jury decision and subsequent protests in Ferguson, his reflection on faith, beauty, truth, and — above all — hope couldn’t have been more timely in light of what was happening in Missouri. Invited to … More A Week of Listening: Makoto Fujimura on Hope, Beauty, and Justice

Woman holding her hands up in front of a police car at a Ferguson protest

A Week of Listening: Christena Cleveland on Advent and Darkness

December 3, 2014

First up in a set of three posts focused on listening to people of color speaking in the wake of last week’s grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri… A reflection on Advent by one of my newest colleagues at Bethel University. In our family Advent devotional last night, we read a familiar verse from the Book of … More A Week of Listening: Christena Cleveland on Advent and Darkness