Colleagues, Our posting of two weeks ago, ThTh145, offered documentation and comment on the work of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (primarily its Ft. Wayne, Indiana, seminary) in Eastern Europe these days. That prompted some response from seminary profs in the Baltics and in St. Petersburg, Russia. The item below comes from Russia. It is actually …
Getting Well/Better
Robert W. Bertram [A first attempt at a position paper for the course “Christianity and Healing” for Lutheran School of Theology, Easter Term, 2001. (Editor’s note: RWB was working on this up until his death, intending to expand and refine it.)] ALL TEN LEPERS GOT BETTER, ONE OF THEM EVEN GOT WELL (Luke 17: 11-19) “Christianity and Healing” …
Dark Gethsemane: A Lenten Message from the Holy Land
Colleagues, We continue to get postings every few days from Christians in the Holy Land–some of them from people we know in the Lutheran Church in Palestine and Jerusalem. Back around Christmas time we posted a few of these messages to you on the ThTh listserve. Here is another such posting for Lent. The text for today’s …
The Missouri Synod’s Presence in Eastern European Lutheranism
Colleagues, ThTh 145 consists of five items about church conflict and church politics amongst Lutherans in Eastern Europe & the involvement of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (USA) in the turmoil. Even so, Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder NEWS RELEASE – LWF Caption: LWF General Secretary Comments on Establishment of Belarusian Church: “Separation in ELCROS will …
Ferment within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion
Colleagues, In my weekly routine, Thursday is a “you gotta,” i.e., you gotta produce another ThTh posting. [Today’s number is 144. That’s 12 dozen already–a gross of you gotta’s!] After which comes Friday’s “you get to.” You get to go to the brown-bag weekly lunch hour meeting at St. Louis University. And what happens there? An ecumenical …
Self-Reflections for Ash Wednesday
Colleagues, Recent ThTh postings on Lutheran Missiology have elicited a number of long and thoughtful responses. A couple of you have gone the extra mile and given me two pieces to think about. It’ll take time for me to work my way through all of them–and I want to do that. So today’s ThTh #143 shifts gears …
Salvation(s)
Robert W. Bertram [Address given 8 March 2001 at Congregation Temple Israel, St. Louis, MO for an InterFaith Partnership Meeting] Summary: When the Christian gospel speaks of the salvation of the world, it raises a question: what is it that is being saved, the world’s sinners or the sinners’ world? Answer: there is no saving the world’s sinners …
Lutheran Missiology–Oxymoron? Part II
Colleagues, Last week’s ThTh #141 closed with the epigram of the Mekane Yesus church in Ethiopia: If you’re baptized, you’re a missionary. Those six words brought a jubilant response from one of you, and other elements of the posting [Lutheran Missiology: An Oxymoron?] elicited additional comments. Many added information supporting the thesis that Lutheran missiology is not an …
Lutheran Missiology: An Oxymoron?
Colleagues, Five months ago our posting ThTh 119 [Sept. 21, 2001] offered some data on Luther’s Theology of Mission. It was gleanings from Luther’s sermons on the Great Commission text. The trigger for my checking to see if Luther had any “feel” for mission was an ELCA bishop’s inquiry: “Was mission the ‘great omission’ in the Lutheran Reformation?” …
Letter from the Lutheran Bishop of Jerusalem to US President George W. Bush
Colleagues, Today’s ThTh posting is the text of a letter from Lutheran Bishop in Jerusalem, Munib A. Younan, sent recently to US President George W. Bush. Its further distribution comes with the bishop’s consent. Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder Jerusalem on January 31 , 2001The Honorable George W. Bush President of the United States of America The …