I earned my master’s degree as a single mother while working full time. It was as intense as it sounds. Once or twice a week for about two years, I’d leave work and immediately drive an hour east to my night classes at the closest state university. Afterward, I’d get home around 10:00, stay up…

The middle of a pandemic is usually not a good time to publish a book, especially when social and travel restrictions interfere with the traditional methods of publicizing and marketing a new book. However, the claims of conscience by Christians in this pandemic make the publication of Christianity and the Laws of Conscience: An Introduction…

Currently, there is some discussion at Baylor University about considering “empathy” as an ideal character strength for undergraduate students. That discussion made me wonder why we talk about empathy as a virtue in Christian circles. After all, it is not a biblical word (of course that does not mean it is not a Christian virtue).…

While there are many books written about the use of technology from a faith perspective, very few are written for those who are actually designing and creating technology – the engineers and designers. Several years ago I got together with two other veteran engineers and Christian college professors to set about writing a book that…

In the past few years, the symphony of women’s voices and the stories emanating from their own, often tragic, experiences in both the sacred and secular world have only grown louder, demanding that the church and society pay attention to women’s grievances and to their cries for equality and justice. By noting both the contributions…

Sometimes it is interesting to take stock of the field of Christian higher education.  A research team I lead recently put together a spreadsheet of all the Protestant institutions in America that require students to take at least one course that addresses the Christian tradition (and not simply religion generally). There are 249 such Protestant…

Be  shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. – 1 Peter 5:2-3 (NIV) We often think…

Policymakers (and therefore, citizens) in modern democracies confront a knot of intertwining problems, from climate change to nuclear proliferation to terrorism. Many of the threads have formed a rope called human migration, as drought, political instability or corruption, and neocolonial economic policies by the major powers interlace to drive seventy million (and counting) refugees from…

As most any study of general education will tell you, students do not find general education engaging. As this study from the Harvard General Education Review Committee found, “Students report not taking their Gen Ed courses as seriously as other courses.” Yet, “Students wish more Gen Ed courses were worth taking seriously.” I think the problem is…

A recent article by James Wood recounts his evolution from a fanboy of Tim Keller to a critic. His argument sparked a flurry of responses, both positive and negative.To offer just a few: David French, “A Critique of Tim Keller Reveals the Moral Devolution of the New Christian Right,” https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/a-critique-of-tim-keller-reveals; Rod Dreher, “Tim Keller &…