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
If not, this week is a great time to check in with Past & Presence, the weekly webisode series that Sam Mulberry and I have been producing with our colleagues and students in the Bethel University History Department. Today’s episode — #9 — is just packed with good stuff: As usual, I moderate everything with interstitial clips in … More Have You Seen Our Department Webisode Yet?
We’ll conclude this week of reruns with the first of two May 2014 posts inspired by a convocation talk at Bethel University by journalist Krista Tippett, host of the acclaimed public radio program On Being and recent winner of the National Humanities Medal. …Tippett’s talk drew on her recent book, Einstein’s God: Conversations about Science and the Human Spirit, and … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: The Two (or Three) Why’s of History
I’m afraid this post started off taking me in directions I hadn’t expected. Part of me would like to polish it further, but in the spirit of blogging as “thinking aloud,” I’ll hope that it hangs together enough to make some sense… Last Friday I enjoyed hearing a convocation talk at Bethel by journalist Krista Tippett, host … More The Two (or Three) Why’s of History
If you’ve been wondering “Who is John Fea, and why has his forthcoming book, Why Study History? Reflecting on the Importance of the Past, been spotlighted in Christianity Today as “New and Noteworthy” and his blog, The Way of Improvement Leads Home, been named by one semi-knowledgeable source as one of ten by Christian historians that … More John Fea in The Juvenile Instructor
Even two weeks later, I don’t think I have much to say about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT that hasn’t been said already, and better than I could say it. But such tragedies are on my mind today for another reason: this fourth day of Christmas is the same day … More Providence, Irony, and Moral Reflection: Historians Confront Evil
The Pietist Schoolman 