In my column for the Fall/Winter 2017 issue of the journal Pietisten, I took a shot at doing something I’ve been most leery to do. Here’s how the column starts: “You need an elevator speech.” So said a friend when I announced on Facebook the publication of our book on Pietism. What she meant is that … More “Do You Believe in the Resurrection?”: My Elevator Speech for The Pietist Option
If you live in the Twin Cities — or want to capitalize on some post-Super Bowl deals and pay us a visit next weekend — please consider attending the Winter Seminar at Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis on February 9-11. I’ll be preaching at both services that Sunday, with the bulk of the seminar itself … More Always Reforming: Next Weekend’s Seminar on The Pietist Option
Sam and I wrap up our third season by considering some of the legacies of the Protestant Reformation: from democracy and free inquiry to religious pluralism and secularization to the notion that Protestants are “reformed and always reforming” (and why that means you should all buy The Pietist Option). Featured Book Alec Ryrie, Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World … More Thursday’s Podcast: Legacies of the Protestant Reformation
Is the Protestant principle of sola scriptura antithetical to Christian unity? That’s the argument of Catholic historian Brad Gregory, in his newest book: “Though it liberated evangelicals from the Roman Church, [“scripture alone”] also plunged them into the beginning of an unwanted Protestant pluralism. What lay behind these church-dividing disagreements was the very thing that had launched the Reformation … More Thursday’s Podcast: Sola Scriptura and Christian Unity
To mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, I spent the better part of today tweeting quotations, images, and links from the Reformation — covering each year from 1517 until Luther’s death in 1546. Luther and the German Reformation was my focus, but I also touched on the Swiss Reformation, the Radical Reformation, … More The Reformations, 1517-1546
I’m loath to draw any more attention to a music video that seems destined to reach far more people than my writing or teaching. But hey, the 500th anniversary of the 95 Theses doesn’t happen all that often, and we’re less than 10,000 hits away from the 300,000 mark. So once more, with feeling:
Tomorrow’s 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses has inspired so many books, articles, blog posts, and other reflections that you might think there’s nothing new to say about the Protestant Reformation. Until, that is, you’re prompted to consider its relationship to African Christianity, both historical and contemporary. First, the history — courtesy of McCormick … More What Has Wittenberg To Do with Addis Ababa?
Since today is a particularly significant Reformation Sunday, I’m going to forego my usual weekend links wrap and instead repost an updated version of my most recent piece for The Anxious Bench. “A red-letter date looms,” wrote Tal Howard in one of his many recent books, “31 October 2017, the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, the widely recognized … More 3 Ways to Remember the Reformation
It’s counterfactual week on The Pietist Schoolman Podcast, as Sam and I conjure up thought experiments in which the Reformation either happens before Martin Luther comes on the scene, or proceeds in a timeline from which he’s been somehow removed. Featured Book Carlos Eire, Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650 Other Readings It doesn’t touch on the Reformation, but … More Thursday’s Podcast: Could the Reformation Have Happened Without Luther?
On the season debut of The Pietist Schoolman Podcast last week, we were looking at prior Reformation anniversaries when Sam asked a really good question about the 500th anniversary of that event: “Do you think in 2017 in America, this is going to break through into popular culture?” Probably not, I said on the fly, unless “you … More Is Your Church Marking #Reformation500?
The Pietist Schoolman 