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Ending the Culture War: The Way of Saint Francis

The polarization of the United States is most recently symbolized by the mask—a small piece of cloth with two rubber bands that has become a symbol for a much broader conflict. (For an excellent theological discussion of mask wearing see Cambria Kaltwasser’s post.) Many Evangelicals have thrown their support behind President Trump as a calculated strategy to win what they see as a “culture war”. Feeling their way of life is in danger, they support President Trump to ensure conservative…
June 22, 2020
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Among Diversity Challenges, Science Textbooks Are Part of the Problem

Recent conversations about diversity initiatives in higher education include two complicated, interconnected issues: religious civility and progressive ideologies. For example, in October 2018, Eboo Patel wrote “Faith is the Diversity Issue Ignored by Colleges” for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more recently, Inside Higher Ed published a piece by Patel in which he points to a noticeable difference between the views of “diversity progressives” and the minority groups they seek to elevate. More pointedly, he wonders whether diversity efforts…
November 18, 2019
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Let the Circle Be Unbroken

I got to church very late last Sunday. So late, in fact, that the minister was leaving the pulpit precisely as I arrived. I know that in many congregations people might think I’d missed the most important, the central feature of the service – the preaching of the Word. But at my home congregation in Michigan the central event of worship is communion, the eucharistic feast. And that central event is practiced in a way I’ve never seen elsewhere. Rather…
January 1, 2019
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Why is Fear an Evangelical Habit of Mind?

This past weekend, a man entered a Pittsburgh synagogue and massacred 11 people gathered for worship. The assailant was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, three Glock .357 handguns, and a heavy dose of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Minutes before entering the synagogue, he posted on social media that HIAS, a Jewish nonprofit helping to resettle refugees, “likes to bring invaders that kill our people.” He was likely triggered by theories bandied about by Republicans in recent days that the migrant caravan winding its way…
November 4, 2018
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Intellectually Engaging My Fundamentalist Students

As a scholar of physics, a product of Christian liberal arts education, and current physics professor at a Christian liberal arts college, I hold the value of critical thinking in high regard. In preparing my physics class material, my ultimate goal is to help my students achieve a higher level of problem-solving, which hopefully, they will retain even beyond remembering how to calculate gravitational attraction. In Colossians 2:23, Paul writes to those in Laodicea, “My goal is that they may…
November 1, 2018
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Are We Even Paying Attention

In late October, a gunman opened fire on a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing eleven people, making it the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Earlier the same week, a white supremacist killed two black customers at a grocery store in Louisville. All of this on the heels of an attempted mass bombing operation in which pipe bombs were en route to high-ranking progressive politicians, including two former presidents. Are Christians even paying attention to these levels of hate, to…
November 1, 2018
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Reimagining the Christian School Sacrifice

“We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.” – Psalm 78:4. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All…
June 30, 2017
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Adolescence and the Creation of the Secular Age of Unbelief

This article is the first in a two part series focusing on the relationship between adolescence, as a cultural category, and secularity in the West. In this article Andrew Root provides a theological and cultural analysis. The second article, written by Kevin Alton asks the "So what?" question: What does this mean for youth ministry? Like an erratic rash that seems to clear up to only return, an old debate has resurfaced once again in discussions of Protestant youth ministry.  This…
January 9, 2017
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Adolescence and the Creation of the Secular Age of Unbelief (So what?)

This article is the second in a two part series focusing on the relationship between adolescence, as a cultural category, and secularity in the West. In this article youth ministry vet Kevin Alton provides practical insight into the significance of adolescence and secularity for youth ministry. Meanwhile, back in the youth room… “So what,” says the average youth worker. The difficulty of connecting the big picture of youth ministry, spirituality, and adolescence with what goes on at the local church is pretty staggering.…
January 9, 2017