One factor behind the recent populist revolt in North America and other parts of the world stems from an increasing distrust of various experts (esp. medical scientists, journalists, and general scientists). There are numerous reasons for this distrust—some of them consistent with a Christian theological perspective, but other reasons have led to a problematic undermining…

With God are wisdom and strength, he has counsel and understanding.” —Job 12:13 I greatly appreciate Paul Yost’s poignant and generous review of The Crucibles that Shape Us.Gayle D. Beebe, The Crucibles that Shape Us: Navigating the Defining Challenges of Leadership (InterVarsity, 2024). He accurately amplifies what I hoped to identify and communicate while noting…

The Crucibles that Shape Us by Gayle Beebe is an important addition to the Christian leadership literature on the challenges and growth that leaders will experience over the course of their careers. The book fills a missing space between books for secular business leaders and Christian ministry leaders. This book is written for Christian leaders…

Like so many, I have recently enjoyed the benefits of the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Raising teenagers in a technological world has been complicated, but AI has helped my husband and me monitor our teens’ phone and text use by providing red flags for things like bullying, depression, and anxiety, while still allowing them…

Things that Smell Good When we think of good smells, we imagine things like freshly baked bread. Particular good smells can evoke fond memories. Babies heads have a pleasant smell about them. Perhaps you’ve known a child who didn’t want his or her “blankey” washed, because they didn’t want the comforting smell of it to…

Note: Presidential Address to the Christian Sociological Association and the Network of Christian Anthropologists at their Joint Conference at Covenant College, June, 2024 This past Christmas, while visiting relatives, most of our family—my spouse Joan, daughter Rose, and son Alec—took a train from Hammond, Indiana into Chicago.  After an enjoyable day walking around Millennium Park,…

"The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”                                Lev. 25:23 One of the popular topics and measures in higher education these days concerns belonging. My simple database search turned up over 600 academic journal articles on the subject over the past few…

As a companion to yesterday’s blog introducing our summer articles, today we turn to our book review section, curated by our book review editor, Matt Lundberg—Calvin University’s director of the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development and professor of Religion. While we publish many excellent standalone reviews, the second part of each journal offers…

This summer, we reached a milestone of over 550 manuscripts submitted to Christian Scholar’s Review since we introduced our online manuscript management system five years ago. It seems incredible (and a lifetime ago) that we were tracking manuscripts, reviewers, reviews, revisions, decisions, and correspondence with a very wonky spreadsheet. I offer that number with some…

Many universities in America are experiencing difficult times. The combination of enrollment declines and operating cost increases has pushed some universities beyond their ability to adapt. A growing number of institutions suffering financial exigency have either closed or been merged into more economically healthy university systems.Evan Castillo and Lyss Welding. 2025. “Tracking College Closures and…