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I can still remember when I first encountered someone with strong convictions about overpopulation and children. I was a graduate student attending an Evangelicals for Social Action initiative, funded by the Pew Foundation (before it secularized). The wonderful program created by Joel Carpenter paired Christian graduate students with Christian faculty for intellectual mentorship. I am…

In the first lecture I give to students in my freshman writing class, I ask students to “consider the source” of their writing. I argue that writing begins from the building blocks of language, which are words. I explain to them my belief, based on my faith in the Bible, that all words come originally…

Lately, I have been especially attentive to outbreaks, like a rash, of what I call to myself the “Hell dynamic.” It is a spirit of domination and destruction, in that order. It begins with a struggle for power, exerted with greater or lesser straightforwardness. (This is “domination.”) It ends with a reckoning full of blame and…

People often ask me what books have most influenced me in my intellectual journey. While I have a list ready in my mind to draw upon in giving an answer, I have come to think that the inquirer can learn even more about me if they would ask about particular passages in what I have…

In the light of eternity, the light in which everything should always be viewed, what matters is the heart and the choices that flow from it. We are placed on this earth to educate our loves. As St. Paul famously says, “If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if…

As a Christ follower, it was my faith that drew me to the social work profession. However, I obtained my Master of Social Work (MSW) degree at a secular university and was disappointed by how often I had to live a dual life. I was a social worker during the week and a Christian on…

Over my thirteen years in Christian higher education as faculty, I have written about (and this is a conservative estimate) a dozen essays reflecting on my Christian faith and how it shapes my personal and professional life. In addition, I have served on numerous committees reading such essays crafted by job candidates and colleagues seeking…

The title of a study released this month explained its key findings, “The Rise of and Demand for Identity-Oriented Media Coverage.” In our Age of Identity, there is a greater proliferation of identity-oriented media coverage, which the authors of the study chalk up to greater demand. Thus, one of the challenges with the Age of…

I teach a course entitled “Living Well” as a part of our foundational core (i.e., general education) at my Christian university. Often, I’ll poll my classes regarding who has heard sermons or engaged in Bible studies relating to a theology of the body, or more specifically, self-care. My unscientific data collection has yielded dismal results,…

I stood in the student-led chapel service singing along with a worship song that proclaimed, “Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God. Oh, it chases me down, fights till I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine.” Though drawing on the familiar imagery of the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15:4-7), the words of…

While trying to keep my feet as I hefted the burden of the academic semester onto my back this year, shocked again—just like every year—as to how heavy that weight can be, I received an email that had a new opportunity inside of it. It wasn’t even a direct ask. It was only a mention,…

Intercollegiate athletics are often assumed to be a vehicle for character formation without thoughtful consideration of empirical research or underlying pedagogies.Sean Strehlow, “Coaching for Christ: How Faith Informs Coaching and Christian Education,” Christian Scholar’s Review (blog), January 17, 2023, https://christianscholars.com/coaching-for-christ-how-faith-informs-coaching-and-christian-education/. In college athletic departments, resources surrounding spiritual formation in sports are similarly sparse. Although Christianity…

In our previous blog, we discussed how the image of God is our identity and how it helps to answer questions about who we are and how we organize ourselves as members of learning communities. Drawing insights from our doctoral seminar on philosophic issues in education, we provided an overview of some specific texts that…

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? These are fundamental questions that define our identity and relationships with others. Answers to these questions help explain what matters for our existence. We often try to find value and meaning in external things, whether professional achievements, money, property, or influence over others. The search for…

Every year in my Contemporary Art class, I guide my students through a 1960s manifesto called Society of the Spectacle. Written by the angsty, art-adjacent theorist Guy Debord, it captures the philosophical energies informing contemporary fine art in a pithy and memorable way. Debord’s central thesis (informed by Marxist thought) is this: that modern society…

In yesterday’s post, I shared my journey through finding my way in faith and learning up through graduate school. As perhaps for many of us, I then wrestled through this crisis of faith for the next two years at the University of Chicago and then Northwestern. I found a sympathetic mentor for my PhD program,…

I recently took up an appointment at Samford University as Professor of Early American History after stepping down as Dean of Howard College of Arts and Sciences. I took great joy in serving in that role for seven years after coming to the university in July 2016 from my previous appointment as Associate Dean in…

I find myself writing this post from what I perceive to be a rather unique position. After serving as a librarian at a Christian university for nearly five years, I have recently accepted an appointment to teach theology and apologetics in the school of divinity at that same institution. Reflecting on my time as an…

This year marks 20 years since I became a full-time professor in Christian higher education. As I look back, I recognize two distinct stages in my academic life, not unlike the “two halves of life” described by the Franciscan priest Richard Rohr in his book Falling Upward. The first half of my career involved a…