After an early summer hiatus, we return this week with the first in a series of episodes sharing perspectives on Christian higher education from traditions both distinct from and historically related to Pietism. First up, Wesleyanism.

It’s represented here by sociologist John Hawthorne, professor at Spring Arbor University and a former administrator at Point Loma Nazarene University, Warner Pacific College, and Sterling College. Our conversation about higher ed took us from the limitations of “worldview” and “faith-learning integration” language to Wesleyan emphases on ordinary means of grace and the continuing nature of creation.

In addition, John and I mused about how a Supreme Court decision affirming a right to marriage for same-sex couples (which actually came down three days after we recorded) would have repercussions for Christian colleges and universities. That plus an analysis of the future of evangelicalism!

Further reading:

• John W. Hawthorne, A First Step into a Much Larger World: The Christian University and Beyond (Wipf & Stock, 2014)
• John’s blog, Sociological Reflections — where you’ll find reflections on Christian colleges and same-sex marriage written before and after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, plus earlier posts on Gordon College and the problems with “industry evangelicalism“
• John has also contributed several posts to Harold Heie’s Respectful Conversation project
• Randy Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology (Kingswood, 1994)