As I began reading the now-infamous Project 2025 manifesto, Mandate for Leadership, I was immediately struck by the writing style used by the authors. The word choices, voice and tone of the document say a great deal about those behind…
Divinity school diaries: Reflections from year 1
This past week, I watched as my social media pages were flooded with “first day of school” photos. My friends’ school-aged children stood by their front doors, or perhaps a nice tree in their yard, smiling and adorned with new…
Christians’ promotion of corporal punishment harms bodies, minds and the gospel
“Spanking? Well, you know, the Bible says, ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child.’” Actually, it doesn’t. The harsh teacher Ichabod Crane in Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow spoke this popular misquotation of Proverbs 13:24. Even the website of…
What if you decided to love your child before you knew they were gay?
Dear parent, I’m writing today with a tough ask. I’m asking you not only to give a loving reception if your child “comes out” as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. I’m asking you to imagine that day even if…
Three educators push back against Florida law targeting trans and nonbinary teachers
Three educators have filed suit against Florida over a 2023 law permitting the decertification and termination of nonbinary and transgender teachers who use preferred pronouns and titles in the performance of their jobs. The Southern Poverty Law Center and its…
Baptist educator receives Order of the Rising Sun from Japanese government
Decades in Japan revealed Gary Barkley’s approach to evangelism was better suited for Japanese culture than for the Southern Baptist Convention, which appointed him as a teaching missionary to the island nation in 1984. “I always felt it was my…
What I learned teaching incarcerated white students about structural racism
Note: This is the final in a three-part series by Chris Caldwell about his work in Kentucky prisons. The course I taught this summer in two Kentucky prisons was one I created a couple years ago at our HBCU:…
Prison tables and the Lord’s Table
Note: This is the second in a three-part series by Chris Caldwell about his work in Kentucky prisons. When I was preparing to teach in prisons, I thought about a lot of things: bars, windows, cells, towers and fences, to…
Grand Canyon University president calls massive DOE fine ‘government overreach’
Grand Canyon University notified the U.S. Department of Education Nov. 16 it is appealing the record $37.7 million fine imposed on the Christian school for allegedly lying to students about the true cost of doctoral education. GCU President Brian Mueller…