The Christian Century

"Bibfeldt’s back” was the slogan of the University of Chicago Divinity School Association’s recent celebration of theologian Franz Bibfeldt after a decade of well-deserved neglect. If he is new to you, Google will tell you more about him than you want to know.

Bibfeldt drastically influenced my career. I was sent to graduate school as punishment for having co-invented him as a hoax on my seminary’s faculty. During one Bibfeldt celebration, former radio commentator Charles Collingwood visited the Bibfeldt relics—autographed pictures by notables—and announced: “You do not have to have existed in order to influence people.”