When my teenage son agreed to read and discuss a book together I landed on a book I had not previously known about: William Ringenberg’s Letters to Young Scholars, the second edition of which came out last year. I knew Ringenberg, the retired but long-time professor of history at Taylor University, from CFH circles and … Continue reading Letters to Young Scholars: A Book for my Adolescent Self
Books
Reckoning with Racism and the Church: Reformed and Anabaptist Voices
Last week I offered some reflections and book recommendations on the issue of race. In other corners, a new book about race and the church was getting attention -- Jemar Tisby's volume, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism. I haven't gotten my copy of this yet, but according … Continue reading Reckoning with Racism and the Church: Reformed and Anabaptist Voices
In Honor of MLK: Reflections on Lessons Learned
I sometimes heard, as I was growing up, a common expression about bartering. If you wanted a lower price at a flea market or garage sale, you'd go to the seller and "chew them down." You know -- the metaphor about verbally bartering back and forth with them as if you were chewing on the … Continue reading In Honor of MLK: Reflections on Lessons Learned
Gendered Messaging in the Evangelical Purity Movement: My guest post at the Anxious Bench
I've been a fan of the Anxious Bench for years so I'm excited to have this piece picked up by the editors there. The topic is outside the usual cluster of themes I write about here and I may be overextending myself. But consider it a conversation starter if nothing else. Basically, I use my … Continue reading Gendered Messaging in the Evangelical Purity Movement: My guest post at the Anxious Bench
John Fea was on the verge of a sermon at Valparaiso University last night
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
My Ongoing Sojourn with those Radical Moravians
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
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)
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%
My Interview with David Swartz on the Evangelical Left
Since overhauling this site, I have pulled in a few posts from 2012 (when I was adding material regularly.) I did this interview back then but David's book remains an important read. In fact, after reposting this and before I even had this new site finished, it had already received three new post "likes." David … Continue reading My Interview with David Swartz on the Evangelical Left
My Interview with Jay Case on his “Unpredictable Gospel”
Another author interview from 2012. Jay Case's book also remains an important and ground-breaking study. Jay Case teaches at Malone University in Canton, Ohio and I am a fan of his new book, An Unpredictable Gospel: American Evangelicals and World Christianity, 1812-1920 (Oxford, 2012). Jared: How did you get interested in the history of Protestant … Continue reading My Interview with Jay Case on his “Unpredictable Gospel”
The Hermeneutic Circle 