All posts tagged Fundamentalist U

Do People Actually Listen to Academic Books?

The numbers seem pretty clear, but I still have a hard time believing it. Based on the Amazon.com reports, the audio version of Fundamentalist U is its most popular format.Maybe I’m just an old out-of-touch codger, but I’m surprised. I can understand why someone would want to listen to an exciting novel, but do people really listen for twelve hours to a book about the history of evangelical higher ed in the USA?

Maybe it’s a quirk of the Amazon ranking system. Perhaps there are not as many Audible books to choose from, so the ranking of the audio format of this book looks a lot higher than the ranking of the hard-copy format.

Even if so, my question remains. I’m not saying Fundamentalist U isn’t a good enough book and all, but I can’t imagine listening to ANY academic history. Am I out of step? Are the kids these days really listening to academic titles along with their podcasts and tik toks and whatnot?

1 Comment

by Adam Laats on October 24, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Required Reading

Tagged Christian Colleges, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on October 24, 2019

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2019/10/24/do-people-actually-listen-to-academic-books/

Attention: Fellow Cheapskates!

Good news: if you’ve been waiting for the right time to acquire your copy of Fundamentalist U, wait no longer!

These prices can’t last…

I can’t pretend to understand the logarithmic mysteries of Amazon.com, but it seems like they drop the price everytime they come close to selling out their latest batch.

Sales have been brisk, so right now they have dropped the price to a measly $12.25. You can’t even get in to see Endgame for that! So grab your copy while the grabbin’s good!

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by Adam Laats on May 4, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Christian Colleges, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on May 4, 2019

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2019/05/04/attention-fellow-cheapskates/

Cheap Date!

Been waiting to pick up a copy of Fundamentalist U? Wait no longer! Sales have been brisk and by the secret algorithms known only to Jeff Bezos, the price right now is lower than it has ever been.So get em while they’re hot.

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by Adam Laats on July 27, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Christian Colleges, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on July 27, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/07/27/cheap-date/

What Does a Friendly Atheist Want to Know about Fundamentalist U?

I had a chance to talk with Hemant Mehta, the famous Friendly Atheist. He had great questions to ask about Fundamentalist U.

FA on FU

For example, Mehta wondered what today’s evangelicals didn’t like to hear about their own collegiate history.

He asked how schools that were dedicated to passing along eternal truths somehow rationalized changing their beliefs. In Mehta’s words, schools essentially had to tell students. “We’re correct NOW, but in the past when we said we were correct we were wrong.” Why would anyone believe such things?

Mehta also wondered how schools can change ONE rule, like racial segregation, without admitting that they might be wrong on everything?

That’s not all. Here are a few other topics Mehta pressed me about:

How did Bryan College get away with changing their faculty statement of faith in 2014?
Do schools like this “exist in a bubble?” Or do they want to be influential in mainstream culture and politics? How does the history of the CCCU help answer these questions?
How have evangelical colleges handled sexual assault and abuse?

It was a real pleasure for me to talk with him. I’ve long been a follower and fan of his blog. Click on over and listen to the whole interview if you’ve got some time to kill.

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by Adam Laats on May 27, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Bob Jones University, Christian Colleges, Fundamentalist U, Hemant Mehta, Pensacola Christian College

Posted by Adam Laats on May 27, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/05/27/what-does-a-friendly-atheist-want-to-know-about-fundamentalist-u/

Professor Hankins on Fundamentalist U

I’m tickled pink this morning to read a new review of Fundamentalist U from a scholar I have long admired. Barry Hankins of Baylor offered an insightful review today in the pages of Christianity Today. family feud

What did he think? As he explains,

Laats attempts to identify the distinct nature of non-denominational, fundamentalist-evangelical higher education in the 20th century. And he succeeds admirably. . . .

In explaining how this struggle [between fundamentalism and neo-evangelicalism] played out, Laats helps us better understand both Christian higher education and the historic relationship between fundamentalism and evangelicalism.

My favorite bit of all?

With fundamentalism subject to such a fluid range of definitions, controversies often centered on the question of authority. In other words, who gets to define fundamentalism for the college? Is it the board, the president, the faculty, or the students (certainly not, unless you ask them)? This was not shared governance but something akin to WrestleMania.

Professor Hankins explores the book’s treatment of issues such as creationism and racism in evangelical higher education and sends us off with a heartening conclusion:

Overall, Fundamentalist U is an exhaustively researched and well-written book, even when it dwells on episodes we might prefer to forget.

2 Comments

by Adam Laats on May 17, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Required Reading

Tagged Barry Hankins, Baylor University, Christian Colleges, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on May 17, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/05/17/professor-hankins-on-fundamentalist-u/

The View from Wall Street

Why would Liberty University love President Trump so much? In the Wall Street Journal, Naomi Schaefer Riley pulls her answer from the pages of Fundamentalist U. As she puts it,

nondenominational Christian schools like Liberty have often defined themselves less by their religious doctrines than by their position as outsiders.

I wouldn’t say “less,” but as I’ve been arguing recently, I do believe the MAGA sensibilities of many white evangelicals have long roots in the history of evangelical higher education. Back in the 1920s, fundamentalist college leaders looked angrily and resentfully at the changes that had occurred at many mainstream schools.

Subscription only, I’m afraid.

Riley puts her finger on this enduring tension at the heart of evangelical higher education. As she concludes her review,

Caught between the vast changes in American higher education and the religious families they are supposed to serve, fundamentalist colleges have had to be especially attuned to which way the cultural winds are blowing. Which may occasionally get them some incongruous commencement speakers.

According to Riley, Fundamentalist U

takes a topic that could easily be treated with condescension and turns it into the occasion for a fascinating and careful history.

Thanks to Riley and WSJ for the thoughtful review.

1 Comment

by Adam Laats on May 7, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education

Tagged Christian Colleges, Fundamentalist U, Liberty University, Naomi Schaefer Riley, Trump, Wall Street Journal

Posted by Adam Laats on May 7, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/05/07/the-view-from-wall-street/

Why Care about Evangelical Colleges?

Why should historians of religion care about schools? How can our study of history help us heal our culture-war ulcers? This week, I had the chance to talk with Professor Andrea Turpin of Baylor University about these questions and more.

Every mystery explained…

Professor Turpin is one of the few humans who is as fascinated by evangelical educational history as I am. Her first award-winning book examined questions of gender, religion, morality and higher education in the nineteenth century.

In our interview, she asked terrific questions that got right to the heart of the matter. What does the history of evangelical higher education tell us about the relationship between “fundamentalists” and “evangelicals?” How does political conservatism line up with theological conservatism? …and more!

For my awkward attempts at answers, click on over to Religion in American History and read the whole thing. Many thanks to Prof. Turpin!

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by Adam Laats on April 30, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Andrea Turpin, Christian Colleges, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on April 30, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/04/30/why-care-about-evangelical-colleges/

Keeping the Faith in Evangelical Colleges

Thanks to Eric Miller and Religion & Politics for publishing an interview this afternoon about Fundamentalist U.

Professor Miller asked questions that got right at the heart of the book: What does it mean to be a “real” college? How did students react to the strict rules at evangelical colleges? Do evangelical schools have academic freedom?

Click on over to read the entire thing.

At first, I thought Professor Miller was simply a peculiarly acute reader, but it turns out he himself spent some time in evangelical higher ed, so he really knew what he was talking about.

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by Adam Laats on April 17, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Christian Colleges, Eric Miller, evangelical higher education, Fundamentalist U, Religion & Politics

Posted by Adam Laats on April 17, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/04/17/keeping-the-faith-in-evangelical-colleges/

Cheapskate Corner!

Okay, SAGLRROILYBYGTH: No more excuses. You can’t afford NOT to buy your copy of Fundamentalist U now.

Apparently sales have been brisk. By the mysterious logarithms of our Amazon overlords, that means they lower the sticker price. I noticed this morning that Amazon has lowered the price to a measly fifteen bucks! So get yr copy today.

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by Adam Laats on April 16, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Higher (Power) Education, Required Reading

Tagged Christian Colleges, Fundamentalist U

Posted by Adam Laats on April 16, 2018

https://iloveyoubutyouregoingtohell.org/2018/04/16/cheapskate-corner/

I Love You but You Didn’t Do the Reading

Welcome to your weekly round-up of ILYBYGTH-themed stories from around the interwebs. Thanks to everyone who sent in tips.

Nun in the huddle! Sister Jean and March Madness, at NYT. HT: DW.

My kind of Calvinism…

White evangelicalism—the church of the “slave state,” at Forbes. [Editor’s note: The original Forbes article was taken down as “way out of bounds,” but the text is still available at this new link. Thanks to alert reader for pointing it out.]