Introduction In 25 years of ministry one of the most profound changes I’ve seen is the growing inability and/or unwillingness of Americans to read texts according to the intent of the author. One of the major reasons for this change was the . . . Continue reading →
Education
The Predicted Darkness Upon Us?
We are approaching a darkness in the land. Boys and girls are emerging from every level of school with certificates and degrees, but they can’t read, write or calculate. We don’t have academic honesty or intellectual rigor. Schools have abandoned integrity and . . . Continue reading →
The Infantilization Of American University Students
Another reason students resort to the quasi-medicalized terminology of trauma is that it forces administrators to respond. Universities are in a double bind. They’re required by two civil-rights statutes, Title VII and Title IX, to ensure that their campuses don’t create a . . . Continue reading →
It’s Never Too Late To Face Reality
I caught a bit of the latest 30 For 30 from ESPN last night. It was the story of the 1989 World Series and the San Francisco earthquake, which many of us watched live and in color on television. The rubble and . . . Continue reading →
Sometimes Nebraska Is Just Too Nice (UPDATED)
Until now the only thing for which Irving Middle School has been notorious was that the infamous spree murderer Charlie Starkweather (1938–59) attended there, in the 1950s, when it was a Junior High School. It is in the news today, however, because . . . Continue reading →
The Big Factory
The Left’s model of society is still the model of Marx and Bismarck: one big factory to be managed by experts. The government schools are an assembly line for human widgets, who are in theory there to be taught what the state . . . Continue reading →
Taking Notes By Hand Works Best
Pop quizzes, of course, are not the best measure of learning, which is an iterative and reflective process. Recent Princeton University and University of California studies took this into account while investigating the differences between note-taking on a laptop and note-taking by . . . Continue reading →
A New Dark Age
Telling The Truth To A Skeptical Millennial Village
Most of the students I teach are so-called Millennials. A few generations ago Americans were raised by parents. Then they were raised by the television. This generation was raised by the computer and related (mostly mobile) media. As Thomas de Zengotita has . . . Continue reading →
Refusing To Land Is Not Humility
I use this analogy when explaining to my students why they have to take positions on difficult theological issues: women in ministry, image of God, election, etc. Every year I have at least some students who don’t want to land the plane. . . . Continue reading →
Dorothy Sayers On The Lost Tools Of Learning
By Dorothy Sayers (1947) That I, whose experience of teaching is extremely limited, should presume to discuss education is a matter, surely, that calls for no apology. It is a kind of behavior to which the present climate of opinion is wholly . . . Continue reading →
Borrowing From Blogs And Other Online Sources
What follows is a guide aimed particularly at church webmasters and others who are just beginning to create blogs and websites. I get questions about this from time to time and I occasionally see things that suggest the need for this post. . . . Continue reading →
What Is A Seminary?
The question arose on a discussion board as to how a theological seminary relates to C. S. Lewis’ distinction between “education” and “vocational training.” The premise of the question was that one had to choose between the two, relative to a university I . . . Continue reading →
Orwell on Freedom of the Press
[Orwell’s original 1945 preface to Animal Farm. It was discovered by Ian Angus and published by Bernard Crick in the TLS in 1972]. This book was first thought of, so far as the central idea goes, in 1937, but was not written . . . Continue reading →
We Just Do Surgery
The other day I was talking with a student at a local coffeehouse in beautiful downtown Escondido. He was telling me about his experience in seminary. He said he began at another seminary, even though his pastor recommended WSC, because he was . . . Continue reading →
Online Classes: Just Because They’re Hip and Convenient Doesn’t Mean They Educate
One of the primary purposes for the HB is to but there are limits to what can be done online. The limits of online education/distance ed is has been a frequent topic here and here on the HB. The maxim is this: . . . Continue reading →
Machen’s Testimony before the House and Senate Committees on the Proposed Department of Education (1926)
The following is a transcript of the proceedings of the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, and the House Committee on Education, February 25, 1926, Congress of the United States, Washington D.C. — The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 o’clock . . . Continue reading →
Jacques Barzun Lived 104 Years
That’s remarkable. I didn’t know he was still alive. All my copies of his books are decades old. When I learned this morning that he died yesterday I was ashamed of myself that I had read so little. Barzun is one of . . . Continue reading →
Parrot AND Poet
You may be aware of Dorothy Sayers’ wonderful talk (later turned into an essay), “The Lost Tools of Learning.” In that essay she summarizes the medieval Christian understanding of the stages of childhood development. She argues that, according to the medievals, we . . . Continue reading →
Why Pastors Need A Seminary Education
Over the years many things have changed at Westminster Seminary California (WSC). In the most important ways, however, the seminary has not changed. We still believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. We still believe the historic . . . Continue reading →