The Social Gospel movement in America emerged in the late nineteenth century in the wake of rising urban industrialization. Preachers and revivalists continued to rail against the social vices of drinking, smoking, and extramarital sex, but now, a...
What is the difference between a Pilgrim and a Puritan? Pilgrims were a name given to a small band of English immigrants who came to America in 1620 on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth. They were originally called "Separatists" for breaking...
Aristotle praised moderation as a virtue. Given how much polarization there is in American politics right now, I concur with Aristotle's sentiment. In Christian parlance, moderation is closely aligned with the biblical word "temperance."Edward...
Some people have an influence disproportionate to their humble circumstances. Wilhelm Loehe (also spelled Lohe, 1808-1872) is one such person. Wilhelm was derogatorily labeled "a pietist" by the examiner grading his trial sermon. It was the age of...
As I reflected on today's prayer, I had a flashback of sitting in a seminary class studying Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. As my professor was explaining the conflict in the Corinthian church, he described Corinthian believers as...
The enrollment cliff is coming to a college near you. The college-age population in America is shrinking, and universities are now feeling the squeeze. If you add higher tuition costs and increased debt load to the mix, you can appreciate why...
He was a career ambassador for Prussia (nineteenth century German Empire). He was good at what he did since diplomacy was his strong suit. Baron Christian Charles Josia von Bunsen (1791-1863) was appointed ambassador to Rome, having earned a...
Lady Elizabeth de Grave left church one Sunday despondent over the state of her soul. After listening to the preacher pronounce God's judgment for those who transgress the law, doubts about her salvation kicked into high gear. Maybe she was kidding...
Teaching was his "sacred calling." He tried his hand at preaching but soon realized his skills were best served by providing young African Americans with the best education possible. Benjamin Griffith Brawley (1882-1939) showed early academic...
John Harvard and his wife Anne sailed to America in 1637. John was assigned to lead a Boston church but died within the year of tuberculosis at the tender age of 31. He donated his library of four hundred books and half of his considerable estate...
Two teenage girls, Susan and Anna, were plucked from their swanky Manhattan townhome to relocate to a dilapidated farmhouse on a deserted island that years earlier had protected the Hudson River Valley from invading British forces during the...
It was a time of massive religious and political upheaval. England was in the throes of a civil war, and Christians were at each other's throats. Whoever was in charge, whether Protestants or Catholics, could find nothing good in each other and...
John and Amelia Schenck owned a farm in Deer Park, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati) during the Civil War. Their family farm also provided refuge for escaped slaves, aided by the Underground Railroad. John and Clara Ann Thompson fled their enslavement...
It may be the most vexing question in Scripture--why do the wicked prosper? David asks it in the Psalms (Ps. 73.3), as does Habakkuk (Hak. 1.3-4), and who can forget Job’s running debate with his friends over seeming injustice? The prayer Jeremiah...
Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the foremost theologian of his day. Many regard him as the first great Christian philosopher. His father urged him to go into politics, but Anselm wanted to study in a monastery. It was before the age of...
Leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands offered Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691-1747) an intriguing proposal. They needed a young, enthusiastic minister to lead four small churches in Raritan. Theodorus assumed Raritan was an...
People say, “Seeing is believing.” Not according to poet George MacDonald. “Seeing is not believing,” he said, “it is only seeing.” John records in his gospel an account of a man born with congenital blindness (John 9). Jesus restores his physical...
We have turned the Good Samaritan parable into a mushy morality tale. You know, be like the Good Samaritan and show kindness to people. We have tamed this provocative short story and blunted its subversive impact. Make no mistake, when Jesus first...