History, Religion, and Much about Moravians
I was privileged to attend gatherings of two of my favorite groups recently. The biennial meeting of the Conference on Faith and History (CFH) met in Grand Rapids last weekend. I became involved in CFH while in grad school and it has served as a tremendous encouragement over the years. The meeting this year was …
Continue reading The Top Ten reasons I keep coming back to Bethlehem (PA)
Last night John Fea's Believe Me book tour stopped by Valparaiso University in northern Indiana and I made the trek, along with Grace student, Brennan Murray, from Warsaw/Winona Lake to take in the event. It was a smallish gathering of folks in an intimate recital hall. The program was structured as a Charlie Rose style …
Continue reading John Fea was on the verge of a sermon at Valparaiso University last night
I don’t really know what’s going on in the minds of evangelicals when they sing along with worship songs. Its likely some are just thinking about lunch, the color of the carpet, the worship leader’s mannerisms, or wondering when that guy up front started doing the hand-raising thing. For many, though, worship songs no doubt …
Continue reading Does activist worship inspire “Fox Evangelicals?”
Next year the 1999 film The Matrix turns twenty. As I told my students on Friday, it ranks as one of my all-time favorite films. Since its release, much has been written about its intellectual and creative genius, its supposed hidden meanings, and its pioneering "bullet time" special effects. But beyond all this, for me …
Continue reading Teaching about Mary Baker Eddy through the lens of the The Matrix
Last month I had the privilege of helping to organize the Sixth Brethren World Assembly, which was held in Winona Lake, IN. This is a conference that seeks to bring together the seven largest denominations that have ties to the 18th century German Pietist group known as the New Anabaptists (Neue Täufer), which was founded …
Continue reading What’s in a Name? Branding and Outsider Church Traditions
Even though Moravians comprise part of the tagline of this blog, they haven't received much attention recently! I hope to remedy that a bit through this week's post. I have been sojourning with the Moravians for over a decade now. This is not say that I'm a card-carrying member of a Moravian congregation, though I …
Continue reading My Ongoing Sojourn with those Radical Moravians
This week we welcome Bethel University history professor, Chris Gerhz, to The Hermeneutic Circle's "hot seat." This is a real privilege since Chris has been such a great model of what it means to integrate academic excellence and Christian faith. In addition to teaching a variety of courses at Bethel, Chris blogs at the Pietist …
