So let’s begin this post with a little history. In late May 2020, John MacArthur, the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, announced that the church would return to face-to-face worship for the first time since the […]
Archives for August 2021
COVID-19 at Christian colleges
With the Delta variant moving rapidly through the campus of Liberty University and Cedarville University, we thought we would check-in on some other Christian colleges and universities to see how things are going. (NOTE: Some of these campuses started classes […]
From Whore to Helpmate
Katie Luther went from being depicted as a vile prostitute to a happy homemaker. Why does that matter?
Digby asks, “How many talkers will die for MAGA?
The number of pro-Trump, anti-vaxxer/anti-mandate talk radio hosts who have died of COVID-19 is growing. Over at Hullaballo blog, Heather Parton makes a list: Marc Bernier, the host of the Marc Bernier Show, compared the government’s vaccine strategy to the […]
Joe Biden: Please stop using the Bible in political speeches
After a busy first week of classes I am finally getting around to this story. In the past I have been very critical of politicians who use the Bible to advance political ends. In the last administration I was particularly […]
Rothkopf: “Biden deserves credit, not blame for Afghanistan”
David Rothkopf‘s piece at The Atlantic is helpful. He argues that “Americans should feel proud of what the U.S. government and military have accomplished in these past two weeks.” A taste: They all conveniently forgot that they were responsible for […]
Jeremy Sabella on which Reinhold Niebuhr is landing today
Last week Current hosted its second bi-monthly event for Deep Water and Storm Surge patrons. Our guest was theologian, cultural critic, and Current author Jeremy Sabella. Jeremy talked about his work on Reinhold Niebuhr, his experience growing-up in Guatemala and Nicaragua, his love […]
Evangelical roundup for August 30, 2021
What is going on in Evangelical land? Nearly 60% of white evangelicals are vaccinated. The rate of vaccination among white evangelicals is higher than the rate of vaccination among rural residents, Republicans, Republicans who support Trump more than the GOP, […]
Saving the Spirit of the Nation
How do nations endure amid threatening political differences?
What should scholars do when social media influencers steal their work?
Historian Tom Mullaney of Stanford University is a scholar of the Chinese typewriter. Johnny Harris is a popular YouTuber. Recently Harris published this video: Here is Mullaney: How should Mullaney respond?
Sunday night odds and ends
A few things online that caught my attention this week: Kate Bowler is not making a bucket list. Humanities at church-related colleges Should AP government classes talk about contemporary presidential elections? Roadside America The past is a foreign country Some […]
Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center just released the summer issue of its journal “Reclaiming 1776.” Let’s take a look.
Liberty University president Jerry Prevo begins the journal with a quote from John Adams: Before my God, I believe the hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and […]
University of Georgia professor quits mid-class after student refuses to properly wear her mask
His name is Irwin Bernstein. Here is Danie Kalaji atThe Red & Black: A University of Georgia retiree-rehire professor resigned on Tuesday after one of his students refused to properly wear a mask in an upper division psychology seminar class […]
Members of the Liberty University community speak-out about COVID-19 spike and move to online learning
Last night we posted about the rise in COVID-19 cases at Liberty University and Cedarville University. Here is how students and other community members are responding to Liberty University’s “temporary period of mitigation.” Nearly 500 students and employees are in […]
A 1991 Heisman trophy candidate will teach you biblical Hebrew
Some of us remember David Klinger. He was a Heisman Trophy candidate 1991 as the quarterback at the University of Houston: He now teaches Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary. Here is Kelly Dearmore at Texas Monthly: During the offseason […]
Senior vice president of National Religious Broadcasting is fired for refusing to recant pro-vaccine statements
Here is Dan Darling earlier this month on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: Here is Bob Smietana’s reporting at Religion News Service: The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC âMorning Joeâ cable news show, Religion News […]
COVID-19 cases on the rise at Liberty University; classes move online.
Here is the press release: As part of its ongoing monitoring of positive COVID-19 rates on campus as well as active community cases and local hospital capacity, Liberty University administration announced on Thursday that it is enacting a temporary mitigation […]
Is religion good for the republic?
The founders believed that religion was important to a strong republic. Republics required virtue–the willingness to occasionally sacrifice self-interest for the public good. If religion could make people more virtuous, the founders promoted it. I am convinced that if there […]
History teachers: The “skills-versus-content” debate rests on a false dichotomy
Over the last few decades, history educators and the scholars who shape the field of history education have stressed the teaching of historical thinking skills as essential to good pedagogy. This emphasis, I would argue, emerged as a response to […]
Who is ISIS-K?
Like most Americans, I had never heard of ISIS-K before it claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack at the Kabul airport. Amira Jadoon of West Point and Andrew Mines of George Washington University gets us up to speed in their recent […]