In two weeks, Baylor University Press will officially release Faith and History, a devotional I edited with Beth Allison Barr that features contributions from forty-some Christian historians. Some of you (hi, Mom!) are even expecting to get pre-ordered copies before Thanksgiving. So before anyone actually reads their copy of Faith and History, today seems like … More Faith and History: The Story Behind the Book
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to [Jesus], “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the … More The With-God Life: The Spiritual Discipline of Celebration
If you didn’t notice it over the weekend, do yourself a favor and read John Fea’s heartfelt “Confessions of a Lonely Christian Historian.” It begins: I think all of us who pursue a life of the mind are, to some degree, lonely people. We live in the world of ideas. We spend a lot of … More The Loneliness (and Solitude) of a Christian Historian
Today Mark, Sam, and I return from our spring break with the first of six proposals for how a revival of the Pietist ethos can benefit Christianity early in the 21st century. Continuing to parallel the structure of Pia Desideria (1675), we joined Philipp Jakob Spener in urging greater attentiveness to Scripture: Thought should be given to a more … More Thursday’s Podcast: A Greater Attentiveness to Scripture
My thoughts and prayers are with the shooting victims and their families in San Bernardino. — Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) December 2, 2015 In the wake of the mass shootings on Wednesday, social media was predictably filled with politicians and others saying that their “thoughts and prayers” were with the victims’ families. But that prompted a fierce … More “Thoughts and Prayers”
Here… • I don’t publish too many tearjerkers, but a letter to my children on their first day of kindergarten probably qualifies. • I didn’t have time to touch on the Amish in my post previewing my research on Anabaptist visions of sport, but someone on Twitter responded by passing along video of “corner ball.” @JohnFea1 what, no … More That Was The Week That Was
Earlier this fall I shared the text of a brief speech I made to a Christian College Consortium symposium at Wheaton College: a Pietist perspective on what it means for schools like the CCC’s thirteen members to “stay Christ-centered.” I suggested that “staying” cannot be static and that “Christ-centered” must be understood in terms of … More Practice and Affection, Not Just Belief: Further Thoughts on How Colleges and Universities Remain “Christ-Centered”
For Holy Week I’d like to share a unique devotional experience from Central Baptist Church in St. Paul, MN: “An Invitation on the Pathway” by Mike Widen and G. W. Carlson is a Baptist version of the Stations of the Cross, blending fourteen original works of art with fourteen original reflections. You can walk these stations … More Baptist Stations of the Cross (G.W. Carlson)
When I write about books on this blog, they’re usually academic or semi-academic works of history or theology. But for the end of the week, I thought I’d share a rather different kind of book that my wife and I are reading — both as parents and as teachers of a 4th grade Sunday School … More Spiritual Disciplines for Children
Just two days after announcing via his Twitter feed that he had stage 4 cancer, Dallas Willard died yesterday. At the end of this post, I’ll offer my own small contribution to the collection of tributes that is already proliferating, but first a few words from people who knew him well: • Richard Foster wrote … More RIP Dallas Willard (1935-2013)
The Pietist Schoolman 