This week The 252 welcomes sports historian Paul Putz of Messiah College. We asked Paul about the history of “Sportianity” — Frank Deford’s term for the fusion of sports with evangelical piety, plus the role of faith in recent protests by African American NFL players, Paul’s experience teaching undergraduate courses like the one our podcast previews, and … More Wednesday’s Podcast: Sportianity
Here… • I wrestled with how and why Christians should pray for a political leader like Donald Trump. • My travels out east took me through Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — home of one of the most significant Moravian communities in history. • And if you’re interested in seeing other historic sites on your travels this summer, … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • I know Americans love to rank things, but maybe not preaching, okay? • Another kind of ranking dispute got me thinking about how we decide what makes a college or university Christian. …There and Everywhere • I’ll have more to say about it on Tuesday at the Bench, but if you haven’t seen it … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • Whether in the flagship magazine of American evangelicalism, a leadership magazine for Pentecostals, or among our readers on Amazon, the reviews of The Pietist Option have continued to be encouraging. • About 60% of my readers say that their church is doing something special to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. • As our … More That Was The Week That Was
Here… • I found some more evidence of the Pietist impact on American religious history. • Indexing the Bible verses cited in our new book made me wonder again about the place of the Old Testament in Christian theology. • One particular Hebrew scripture has been especially formative for Christians living in exile, from 16th … More That Was The Week That Was
Heading into Monday night’s first presidential debate, an ABC/Washington Post poll found Donald Trump leading Hillary Clinton among white evangelicals, 71%-22%. Much though Trump’s boorish, unprepared performance in the debate embarrassed even political conservatives, I’m not sure that my fellow evangelicals learned anything new that night that shouldn’t already have dissuaded them from backing Trump. As a FiveThirtyEight profile pointed out Tuesday, his support from … More One More Reason Evangelicalism Needs Fewer White Men in Leadership
On the eve of the decision of Goshen College and Eastern Mennonite University to withdraw from the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), historian William Ringenberg told WORLD Magazine that the debate over those schools’ decision to hire LGBT faculty was “traumatic” for Christian higher ed. In his judgment, only one other crisis had been more significant: … More The Secularization(s) of Christian Higher Education
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) Since I arrived at Bethel in 2003, the phrases “anti-racism” and “racial reconciliation” have been prominent in campus discourse. Bethel leaders had identified a “ministry of reconciliation” (in the … More Social Class at Christian Colleges (part 1)
The Pietist Schoolman 