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 … Continue reading Historians on the Hot Seat: Chris Gehrz on Charles Lindbergh and “The Famous Unknown”
Aging Christian Rockers and Sound Tracks for Court Evangelicals
I grew up listening to Petra. If you didn't attend a church steeped in white evangelicalism's "youth group" sub-culture of the 1980s like I did, I don't expect you to know of this rock band. They started in the 1970s with a sound akin to Kansas or Styx blended with synth melodies and heavy guitar … Continue reading Aging Christian Rockers and Sound Tracks for Court Evangelicals
Historians on the Hot Seat: David Swartz (How the majority world is reshaping American evangelicalism)
This week's post spotlights historian David Swartz as part of a new series meant to focus on historians and their ongoing work: current projects, research efforts, innovative teaching, travel abroad, and other activities of interest. (Its not really a hot seat at this point, but maybe we'll get some controversy going eventually!) Rumor has it … Continue reading Historians on the Hot Seat: David Swartz (How the majority world is reshaping American evangelicalism)
Anabaptist Critiques of Evangelicals and Religious Freedom
We continue to hear a lot about religious freedom from the Trump administration and conservative evangelicals these days. As we know, the issues have ranged from wedding cakes to contraceptives. In the last few weeks, Republicans have even moved to export their religious freedom efforts around the world. Evangelicals believe they wage these battles in … Continue reading Anabaptist Critiques of Evangelicals and Religious Freedom
Praise the Lord and Pass the Meds: Depression, Anxiety and the Academic Life
Is there something about academe that attracts those prone to depression and anxiety? Does the modern academy, with all its stresses and strains, contribute to depression among faculty members? This post gets a little personal. I can't promise to respond, but comments are welcome. As a young person, I wrestled with internal tensions common to … Continue reading Praise the Lord and Pass the Meds: Depression, Anxiety and the Academic Life
The Moravian Origins of the Missionary Newsletter
Missionary newsletters are a mainstay of evangelical culture. Those of us who have grown up in evangelical churches can attest to this. This informal literary genre typically contains a combination of updates on continuing mission efforts, requests for financial gifts and "prayer support," as well as cultural insights and descriptions about what mission work is … Continue reading The Moravian Origins of the Missionary Newsletter
Memorials, Historical Memory, and the War in Vietnam
A week ago, The Hermeneutic Circle got a makeover. I also made a personal commitment to offer a minimum of one post per week for one year. I admire others who can post daily, but I've come to realize I'm just not wired this way. That being said, I kicked things off with a review … Continue reading Memorials, Historical Memory, and the War in Vietnam
Moravians, peace ethics, and bridal mysticism
How's that for an interesting grouping of topics? As The Hermeneutic Circle continues to get retooled, I am taking some time this week to review some of my guest posts over at The Pietist Schoolman. I've enjoyed revisiting some of the topics I wrote about there and I continue to be grateful to Chris Gehrz … Continue reading Moravians, peace ethics, and bridal mysticism
That time I ranted to David Barton
For the past several years (while not blogging regularly), Chris Gerhz has graciously allowed me to do some guest posts over at The Pietist Schoolman (25 to be exact). So since I am only committing myself to a minimum of one new post per week here at The Hermeneutic Circle, I thought I'd take some … Continue reading That time I ranted to David Barton
History and how we got the 81%
Historian John Fea gets back to his roots in explaining the “81%.” (The percentage of evangelicals who supposedly voted for President Trump.) Though he has a long list of accomplishments in mainstream historical circles, Fea’s original forays into writing about history was as a graduate student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he studied the … Continue reading History and how we got the 81%
The Hermeneutic Circle 