Sins or Nature? Seventeenth and Twenty-First Century Responses to Climate Change

by Nicholas Cunigan. The past year has borne witness to deadly hurricanes, unseasonable temperatures, record flooding, and uncontrollable wildfires. The natural disasters that have wreaked havoc on Houston, Puerto Rico, and millions of acres in the West have left thousands of those directly affected homeless, destitute, and heartbroken. Many more are left looking for explanations. …

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Giving Honor to Whom Honor is Due: Chinua Achebe

by Eric M. Washington Upon arriving on campus yesterday and sitting in front of my computer, I noticed something eye-catching for the Google Doodle. I rarely click on them, but this one featured the late Nigerian novelist, writer, and professor Chinua Achebe, who would have been 87 yesterday. A number of online stories underscored the …

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Sometimes History Hits Home

by Bob Schoone-Jongen. Sometimes history hits home. Hurricane Harvey is one of those hits. Watching the devastation along the Gulf Coast, from Corpus Christi to Port Arthur, has been heart wrenching. Following the struggles of folks in the region, some of them my former students from back in Minnesota, puts real faces and real experiences …

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A Tale of Two Cubas

by Dan Miller. This past May I had the pleasure of leading a group of 14 Calvin alumni plus my wife on a ten day tour of Cuba as part of the Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning program. It was a rich experience for me. As the Latin Americanist in Calvin’s History Department for 32 …

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Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the City of David

by Frans van Liere. More than any history book, archaeology can create a powerful sense of the past. At the same time, just like history, archaeology can be used and abused for political purposes. It can create a sense of national or ethnic identity, or exclude others from that identity. This past summer, when my …

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Chattel and Prophets: African Americans in Presbyterian Church History

by Eric M. Washington A careful reading of African-American church history reveals that African Americans have a long history in Presbyterianism. Despite the small numbers of African-American Presbyterians relative to the overall numbers of African-American Christians, they must be considered an important population within the broader scope of the African-American church tradition, owing to their …

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