“What’s wrong with Christianity in 2016?” Yikes. As I wrote here last week, I’ve been dreading this question since we decided that our book on “Pietism and the Future of Christianity” would mirror the structure of Philipp Spener’s Pia Desideria, whose first major section is a “Conspectus of Corrupt Conditions in the Church.” As I mused … More Thursday’s Podcast: What’s Wrong?
I don’t normally comment on things a year after they’re published, but since a post I hadn’t noticed before was referred to me over the weekend by two different colleagues, let me offer a few thoughts on Luke Harrington’s January 2015 piece, “Baptizing ‘Masculinity’: The Real Reason Men Are Leaving the Church.” In short, Harrington suggests … More Are Men Leaving the Church Because It’s Insufficiently Intellectual?
Next to the works of Lina Sandell, probably no hymn is more beloved among us pietistic Swedish-Americans than “Thanks to God for My Redeemer.” The original lyrics by A.L. Storm (“Tack, O Gud”) were translated by one Covenant pastor, Carl Backstrom, and set to a tune by another, J.A. Hultman. I can’t imagine a more fitting source for … More Tack O Gud (Thanks to God)
Over the weekend I had the honor of being the featured speaker at the 125th anniversary banquet for Salem Covenant Church in Duluth, Minnesota. I didn’t write out my remarks and won’t try to reproduce what I said entirely — but I thought I might share some of the ideas at the core of the address. They form the … More History as Stewardship of the Past
If you offered me fifteen minutes to share what’s at the heart of my belief as a Christian and how that shapes my understanding of education, I think this is the best answer I could give. It’s the text of the convocation address I delivered yesterday in the opening chapel of the 2015-2016 academic year at Bethel University. Thanks to … More The Body of Christ
I’ve been reading Andy Crouch’s Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power for about four months now and I’m barely a third of the way through it. Not because it’s bad! Quite the contrary: it’s one of those books that I have to set down every page or two because I need to think about the point being … More What We Mean When We Say We Want Christian Unity
Last Tuesday night I had the privilege of moderating my congregation‘s annual meeting for the sixth time — and the last for the foreseeable future. In 2009 I was elected chairperson of our church; after having been reelected three years later, I’ve now reached my constitutional limit of two terms and so happily gave way to a new chair. … More College Professors as Church Leaders
Few posts here have received as many views as the quick one I tossed off Monday, noting the convergence of three stories related to evangelical views of homosexuality: Tony Campolo’s announcement that he would now fully affirm committed same-sex couples; a New York Times story on a conversation about sexuality at Biola University; and a Pew poll showing that … More The Time for a (Long Overdue) Evangelical Conversation on Sexuality
Yesterday I was asked to sign a copy of our book on Pietism and higher education, an invitation that was at once A rare honor Mildly embarrassing — since I’m terrible at coming up with meaningful inscriptions and uncomfortable writing in cursive A reminder that it’s time to move on to a new project As it happens, I’ve … More A Pia Desideria for the 21st Century?
From April 9… Having spent a couple of posts last week unpacking Liberty University’s ambition (and the older one of Baylor University) to become “the Protestant Notre Dame” — and asking just what that meant, I’m surprised it took almost four days to see this comment appear: The question isn’t so much whether Liberty is a … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Notre Dame and the Idea of the Catholic University
The Pietist Schoolman 