Colleagues, Today’s posting comes from Jose [Joe] B. Fuliga, one-time president of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines. Fuliga has an ancient connection with Crossings. Here’s how: Cathy Lessmann, Crossings executive director for ages, is a “missionary kid” born in Davao City in the Philippines when her parents were missionaries there. Cathy’s father, Arnold Strohschein, was a conduit …
Some Items on Mission Theology
Colleagues, Back once more to 1994, the year Marie and I spent in Australia at the Luther Seminary in Adelaide. One course I taught was Theology of Mission. Here are two artifacts that came from that. Peace and Joy! Ed Schroeder [The #1 book about Christian mission at that time was David Bosch’s just-published TRANSFORMING MISSION. David was …
A Confession of Faith prompted by the Dodoma Statement
Colleagues, On April 29, 2010 the Lutheran bishops of Tanzania issued The Dodoma Statement, a critical response to the actions of other churches in worldwide Lutheranism with reference to homosexuality. [The URL for the full text of the Dodoma statement is http://www.elct.org/news/2010.04.004.html] Crossings board member Peter Keyel, research-immunologist by day, offers this “Confession of Faith prompted by the Dodoma …
African Lutheran Churches Rebuke their Western Siblings
Colleagues, This past week two of you on the Crossings listserve sent me copies of documents from national Lutheran churches in Africa–one from Kenya, one from Tanzania–both of them rebuking the ELCAmerica and the Lutheran church of Sweden for their “apostasy” regarding homosexuality. The “shock, dismay and disappointment” expressed in these documents as well as their counter-confession “Here …
“Simultaneously Sinner and Saint,” a Second Opinion for the ELCA Journal THE LUTHERAN
Colleagues, Last month’s ThTh 634 amounted to an Op Ed to Peter Marty’s piece published in the August issue of the ELCA national magazine THE LUTHERAN. Itwouldn’t have been so vexing if the article had not carried the caption: “A Lutheran Christian Life for Today.” For *Luther-an* it was not. Straight Erasmus instead. That August article was the …
Theopaschitism [Yes, that’s the topic. Pronounced (OED): theo-PA-skit-ism.]
Colleagues, The OT reading for last Sunday (Pent.16) in our congregation told of Moses beseeching God: “change your mind.” And God did. The world-wide media chatter for the weekend was all about Islam — 9/11 remembrance, the Muslim festival Eid-al-fitr, the Qur’an as tentative-tinder in Florida. Got me to wondering. Would the deity revealed in the Qur’an ever …
A Book Review on Science and Religion
Colleagues, For this week’s ThTh post Dr. Peter Keyel offers a Science-and-Religion book review. Newly elected to the Crossings board, Peter is a layman who works in immunology and was raised in the ELCA. Just a few weeks ago he was asked to submit an essay on this theme for an ELCA publication. He’s showed me what he …
More Artifacts from Earlier Days in Australia. Ethics
Colleagues, Digging around in those old Aussie file folders (from 1994) some more–this time the one on Ethics–I found these two items. The first was an imagined letter to Dietrich Bonhoeffer–and then, his response! The class was reading DB’s Ethics book. The second is a “crossing” of John Stott’s book on ethics (also a class textbook, chosen before …
More Discoveries from That Year Downunder 1994
Colleagues, A few weeks ago (TT631) you received an item that I’d once composed, but completely forgotten. However, Bob Schultz had not. Its theme was: seminary education, going down the aisles of the supermarket or cooking in the kitchen? It came from my first post-retirement year 1994. Marie and I were year-long guests of the Luth. Church in …
“The Lutheran Message” – Just What is That?
Colleagues, At last week’s annual meeting Chris Repp was elected to the Crossings Board of Directors. So was Peter Keyel. I’m glad. You’ve already seen Peter’s and Chris’s gifts and skill in past postings of ThTh. Here’s a brand new one from Chris. Peace and Joy! Ed Schroeder Lutheran Message? Lutheran congregations receive all sorts of solicitations for …