Top 10 DET Posts of 2018

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I have been casting my mind back, gentle readers, as I am wont to do, over the previous year here at DET. That I have been doing this in March rather than in January is, I think, evidence of how absolutely swamped I’ve been with other professional demands.

And, no. Sadly, I don’t mean the demands of new writing and research projects, as much as I wish that were the case. Luckily for all of us, I have it on good authority that David Congdon is still managing to stitch together subjects and verbs, perhaps even sprinkling in the odd participle from time to time, so we will just have to look forward to what he will give us in good time.

Meanwhile, I have been basting my mind back, gentle readers, as…oh, wait, said that already. Sorry.

Here’s the annual post on the most trafficked (fair warning: traffic was not counted in an especially scientific way) posts over the previous year. If you’re curious, here’s the list from 2017.

DET 2018 Top 10

  1. So You Want to Read….Dietrich Bonhoeffer? - Coming in at #4 last year, this post saw a major upswing to snag the top spot in 2018. If you see the author on Twitter (@brandy_daniels), be sure to stop and say hello.
  2. So, You Want To Read Karl Barth? - This post is a perennial favorite, coming in second for the second year in a row.
  3. Abortion, Authoritarian Self-Deception, Evangelicals, and Trump: a collected Twitter essay from Christopher Stroop - Last year’s #1 slips down to #3, but you definitely need to read it if you haven’t yet. In fact, you should read it again if you haven’t read it in the last month or two. And be sure to keep track of the author on Twitter (@C_Stroop).
  4. "Jesus was a failure" - an anonymous missive on the possibility of faith in the modern world - This is the first post in our list actually written in 2018, and #4 is a very respectable first-year showing.
  5. Types of Theology - This post is over a decade old now, and it’s such a blunt instrument that I’m beginning to get a little embarrassed about it. I’m at a loss as to why folks got interested in it again in 2018.
  6. Demythologizing the Divide between Barth and Bultmann - Here we have another perennial favorite that provides a glimpse into some of the earlier days of David Congdon’s work on Bultmann. It slipped a place from its #5 finish last year, and it has come in significantly higher than that in previous years. It is definitely worth your time to read it, whether again or for the first time!
  7. “We must become the prayer”: an anonymous missive on the pastoral task after the death of God - DET published two anonymous missives in 2018, and both of them made the list. Inquiring minds want to know! But seriously, this is thought-provoking stuff on which you should definitely reflect.
  8. What’s the Deal with Wolfhart Pannenberg? A guest post by Andrew Hollingsworth - This guest post on Pannenberg seems to have scratched some folks where they itched. Be kind, and keep track of Andrew on Twitter (@andrewh_mc11).
  9. Rudolf Otto, Rudolf Bultmann, and the “Wholly Other” - I had completely forgotten about this post until it popped up on the list this year. More evidence of a Bultmann renaissance? Or is Otto poised to make a comeback?
  10. TF Torrance on Evangelism and How to Preach the Gospel - Don’t call it a comeback! Well, ok. Maybe you can call it a comeback. Whatever it is, this post is even older than the Types of Theology post. Or maybe folks just needed a dose of TF Torrance.

So there’s our list! Here are some honorable mentions selected on the very rigorous criteria of…being posts that I wanted to highlight.

Honorable mention


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