This week Bethel wrapped up its 150th anniversary celebration, so I shared both the talk I gave at the celebratory dinner (on the individual moments that make up our collective story) and an analysis of the religious and educational continuities that define Bethel in the midst of so much change. Also, we recorded a podcast … More That Was The Week That Was
According to church historian Carter Lindberg, that’s how German Lutherans in the early 18th century thought of Philipp Jakob Spener: second only to Martin Luther himself. Born this day in 1635, Spener is less remembered nowadays, but played a prominent role in renewing early modern Protestantism, as a popular preacher and writer and the founding … More A New Book about “The Second Greatest Lutheran Theologian”
Forgive the quiet start to a new blogging year. I’ve been busy launching the J-term version of our Christianity and Western Culture class: over two millennia covered in three weeks! Which is a bit more ambitious than my upcoming speaking schedule, but I’m still happy to have three opportunities over the next five weeks to … More Three Upcoming Lindbergh Events
As a Pietist who now worships within a Lutheran congregation, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this month’s installment of our year-long, ecumenical conversation about Following Jesus. Church historian Mark Ellingsen didn’t disappoint, offering a reflection on what he called Lutheranism’s “Evangelical Catholic” way of following Jesus. At least, that’s how he saw his more “confessional” branch … More Following Jesus: The Lutheran Tradition
I was out of town over the weekend at one of my daughter’s softball tournaments, so I didn’t get a chance to curate my usual set of interesting links. If I had, I’m sure several of them would have collected around a surprising finding from the Public Religion Research Institute. Its 2020 Census of American … More Is Mainline Protestantism Actually Growing?
Another quiet week at The Pietist Schoolman, but I wrote about a mostly-forgotten American Bible and (tangentially) the 35th anniversary of the Challenger explosion for The Anxious Bench and offered some college-to-careers advice to Zippia users. Elsewhere: • It’s probably not a good sign that a leading historian on violence in American politics is feeling … More That Was The Week That Was
As we turned the page from 2020 to 2021, I reviewed my own blogging year and that of everyone at The Anxious Bench. Here at Pietist Schoolman, my Christmas devotional series continued, taking inspiration from sources as diverse as Jill Biden and It’s a Wonderful Life. Then here’s some of what I’ve been reading elsewhere … More That Was The Week That Was
As I’ve spent more and more time on Charles Lindbergh, I’ve had less and less time to spend on Pietism. So I’m always thrilled when a church asks me to give a talk on our 2017 book, The Pietist Option, which was always meant for large and small group discussion in churches and is still … More Announcing… A Free Online Adult Education Course on The Pietist Option
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same … More The With-God Life: Maundy Thursday
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. (Psalm 143:1-2) In yesterday’s reading, a drought threatened all of Israel. Today, David’s soul thirsts for God “like a parched land” (v … More The With-God Life: “Do not hide your face from me”
The Pietist Schoolman 