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A Response to Miles Smith IV’s CSR Review of Another Gospel

Miles Smith IV begins his review of Another Gospel by telling the reader that the book is about Christian Nationalism—which, he writes, can mean “nearly anything” pastors, professors, or politicians find “exotic” at “the intersection of politics and religion.” At such a characterization, the discerning reader will likely raise an eyebrow. Surely this book must…
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What the Scopes Trial Meant: Bryan, the Modernists, and Science

This July marks the one hundredth anniversary of the most famous event in the history of American religion and science, the trial of John Scopes for teaching evolution in a rural Tennessee high school. The rookie teacher was convicted of violating a new state law prohibiting public schools “to teach any theory that denies the…
July 30, 2025
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An Appeal to Embrace Purposeful Mentorship

Writing in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Hans Sanders tells the story of Cris Hassold of New College Florida.Hank Sanders, “A Professor’s Final Gift to Her Students: Her Life Savings,” New York Times, May 11, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/us/cris-hassold-professor-new-college-will.html. A story that in so many ways captures the best of what the university can provide…
July 25, 2025

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AI and the Grammar of Descent

Recently, there’s been even more press than usual about AI proliferation and its associated risks. The hype has been driven, in part, by the now infamous Ross Douthat interview with Daniel Kokotajlo, executive director of the A.I. Futures Project, in which Kokotajlo suggests that AI could take over civilization—and “then kill all the humans”—by 2027.…
June 24, 2025
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God Made All Nations from One Blood: The Origins of a Biblical Argument against Slavery

In 1526, William Tyndale’s ground-breaking translation of the English New Testament appeared. In this translation, Tyndale used a unique phrase that was not in John Wycliffe’s original English translation. Instead of translating a key passage from Paul’s sermon to the Athenians in Wycliffe’s original way, “ made of one all the kind of men” (Acts…
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Mirrors Transformed by Light:Meditations on the God Who Is Light

I’d like to propose a thought experiment -- one that may transform your understanding of something you see every day. Thought experiments can change the world, or at least your understanding of it. Einstein’s great scientific breakthroughs started with a thought experiment, something like this one. For our experiment, imagine how a mirror works. If…
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Equipping New Faculty for Effective Biblical Integration

I was nearly a failure at my greatest dream. Since the age of five (not an exaggeration, and you can verify with my sister), I dreamed of becoming a teacher. I played school pretty much non-stop from as far back as I can remember, and the dream never changed. It was fed and encouraged by…
June 17, 2025
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Integrating Faith and Academic Administration

This summer I will take on the responsibility of chair of the Department of Computer Science at Calvin University. This part-time administrative role comes with many responsibilities: guiding the hiring and reappointment of faculty, scheduling classes, ensuring academic quality, managing budgets, and generally keeping the “trains running on time” in the department. To be sure,…
June 16, 2025
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Equipping Scientists of Faith in a Secular Age, review of Christopher P. Scheitle, The Faithful Scientist: Experiences of Anti-­Religious Bias in Scientific Training

The tired but persistent cultural narrative of the conflict between science and religion continues to impede fruitful discussions by obscuring the meaningful and important role that religious identity plays in the lives of scientists and researchers. The conflict narrative is particularly problematic as faculty and mentors seek to prepare interested Christian undergraduates to attend graduate…
June 12, 2025
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To Know and Be Known: A Framework for the Ministry of Teaching (Part 1)

We live in an age where information is instantly accessible, with near-limitless knowledge available at our fingertips. At no point in history has so much information been within immediate reach. This unprecedented access has sparked important conversations about the relevance of traditional educational structures—and even the role of higher education itself. In 2022, Inside Higher…
June 10, 2025