If Protestants know that today is the feast of St. Stephen, it’s probably because of a rather odd carol, a Christmas song that makes no mention of Christ. As John Mason Neale’s “Good King Wenceslas” begins, it is December 26th, “the Feast of Stephen.” That night the medieval Czech monarch looks out and spots a … More Twelve Days: On the Feast of Stephen
I groaned a little when I saw James 2 show up on the daily lectionary yesterday and today. As a historian who teaches about the Reformation and a Protestant who still (mostly) celebrates its legacy, I’ve wrestled dozens of times with Martin Luther’s disdain for this “right strawy epistle,” which insists that “a person is … More The With-God Life: Faith without (Political) Works
This past April the Baptist ethicist and theologian Glen Stassen died at age 78. Today I’m happy to share a tribute to Stassen written by my friend G.W. Carlson, professor emeritus of history and political science at Bethel University (where he still teaches a course on Christian Non-Violence). To know God as Son is to … More Glen Stassen: Living the Sermon on the Mount (G.W. Carlson)
Last week the U.S. chapter of the international Christian humanitarian organization World Vision made headlines: first when president Rich Stearns confirmed to Christianity Today last Monday that the organization would employ Christians in same-sex marriages, only to reverse the decision two days later, in the wake of torrents of criticism from conservatives, some of whom threatened to withdraw … More World Vision and Evangelicalism: An Interview with David King
Unsurprisingly, the blogosphere yesterday was replete with reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr. One particular genre of King tributes stood out: those that sought to recover what the authors claimed was a lost, neglected, or “whitewashed” facet of one of the few Americans to whom virtually all partisans appeal. One sub-genre: Christian attempts to remind … More Recovering MLK, the Christian Prophet
“Mission Friends.” That’s what my ancestors in what’s now the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) originally called themselves, and it’s a winsome phrase I’ve always enjoyed. It reflects our foundational understanding that Christians are called “to reach out with the good news of Jesus Christ – evangelizing the lost, ministering to those in need, and seeking … More Covenant Kids Congo
The Pietist Schoolman 