Charles Lindbergh was a celebrated aviator, the father of the baby abducted in the “crime of the century,” a Nazi sympathizer, and a believer in eugenics. He also carried a small New Testament with him as he entered the South...
Chris Gehrz
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...
The history of the phrase “Jesus is Not a Republican or a Democrat”
Perhaps you have seen this phrase on a bumper sticker. I occasionally see it on cars in the parking lot at Messiah University. Most of them say “JESUS (or GOD) IS NOT A REPUBLICAN” and then in smaller letters, “or...
This Christian devotional, written by historians, will make a great Christmas gift!
I am honored to have contributed to this amazing devotional. My Conference on Faith and History colleagues Chris Gehrz and Beth Allison Barr are the editors. Here is a description from Baylor University Press: Join over forty Christian historians as...
Thoughts on Biden’s speech tonight
This morning Joe Biden became the president-elect. Tonight he celebrated. Kamala Harris spoke first and then introduced Biden. I live-tweeted: Harris began with John Lewis. Who is John Lewis? Get up to speed with these posts. Harris gave a shoutout...
Why evangelicals in Sweden are politically progressive
Swedish church historian Joel Halldorf explains why white evangelicals in America lean right and white evangelicals in Sweden lean left. Here is a taste of his piece at the new website Breaking Ground: The struggle for democracy and economic solidarity...
How the Pietist Schoolman is preparing for his history classes this fall
Like Chris Gehrz, I am starting to stress about the Fall semester. I am teaching the U.S. Survey course to 180 students in a 790 seat recital hall. (We will have ten smaller weekly seminars in other socially distanced classrooms)....
The Pietist Schoolman weighs-in on the Confederate monuments debate
Chris Gehrz‘s is known to many readers of this blog as the Pietist Schoolman. Read his Anxious Bench post, “It’s Not ‘Erasing History’ to Remove Confederate Memorials.” Here is a taste: Every pedestal emptied of someone who fought on...
The Challenge of Christian Liberal Arts in This Pandemic and Beyond
Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota will cut thirty faculty positions this week. Today, at Messiah College, we learned about how the administration will cut seven million dollars from our budget over the course of the next five years. I...
Should You Support Your Child’s Decision to Attend a Christian College?
Christian liberal arts colleges came under attack recently by a Southern Baptist theologian named Denny Burk. I was going to blog about his recent tweets, but I did not want to call attention to them. The tweets mischaracterize the work...
Shirley Hoogstra of the CCCU Explains Fairness for All
Last week we introduced readers to the Fairness for All Act. Over at The Anxious Bench blog, historian Chris Gehrz has published his interview with Shirley Hoogstra, president of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). The CCCU is...
Mainline Protestants for Trump
When it comes to Christians supporting the Trump presidency, evangelicals get all the attention. But as Chris Gehrz notes in his recent Anxious Bench post, mainline Protestants are not immune to Trump love. I don’t know of any “court mainliners,”...
The Endorsers of “Christians Against Christian Nationalism” Speak Out
Many of you are familiar with “Christians Against Christian Nationalism.” I signed the statement and wrote about it here and here. Over at The Anxious Bench, Chris Gehrz calls our attention to a podcast in which some of the endorsers...
The Pietist Schoolman Urges His Representative to Fund the National Archives
Chris Gehrz, who loyal readers of The Way of Improvement Leads Home know as “The Pietist Schoolman,” has inspired me to write a similar letter to my representative. Gehrz builds off of T.J. Stiles’s recent piece on budget cuts to the...
When History Meets Politics in Minnesota
Minnesota state senator Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake) has proposed cutting $4 million (18%) from the budget of the Minnesota Historical Society because the society wants to integrate native American history at historic Fort Snelling. Here is a taste of a Pete...
Teaching as Preaching
Over at The Pietist Schoolman, Bethel University historian Chris Gehrz reflects on the relationship between preaching and classroom teaching. When I first read the title of Chris’s post I thought this was going to be a defense of lecturing, but...
How Do We “Render Unto Caesar” in a Democracy?
The following exchange takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22: 16-22. Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words.16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we...
Anxious Benchers Weigh-In on the Kidd-Merritt Dust-Up
Here is a taste of historian John Turner‘s post at The Anxious Bench: To what extent should non-academics defer to academic historians on matters of history? John Fea faulted Merritt for being snarky and dismissive (“maybe you should think some...
Introducting Pietist Schoolman Travel
Do you want to take a trip to Europe with historian Chris Gehrz, aka the Pietist Schoolman? Check out his new venture: “Pietist Schoolman Travel.” Here is a taste of Chris’s latest post describing the new venture: As announced here two weeks...
Reflections on the 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History
The 2018 Biennial Meeting of the Conference on Faith and History is over. As program chair, I spent most of the weekend pinch-hitting for folks who were unable to come and making sure our plenary speakers were comfortable. This is...