The Crossings Blog

Thursday Theology -full listing Crossings Film Series
  • Now About the Risks Involved… Edward H. Schroeder “Interaction,” March 1975
    “Wow!” That’s what we said last summer when we saw that Frenchman on the tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. No parachute, no net, just 1,000 feet of nothing between him and the ground. That was really risky! I get vertigo just thinking about it. You’ll never catch ...
  • “Where on Earth are the Heavenly Places?” Edward H. Schroeder Interaction, February 1976
    The answer to the question in the title is “yes” – the heavenly places are on earth. Ephesians, the only place in the Bible where we run into that prepositional phrase, designates the heavenly places as any place where the Lordship of Christ is in operation. And the most palpable place where Christ is Lord ...
  • The Economy of Forgiveness
    Colleagues, Summertime here in the northern hemisphere. Hot here in the USA heartland. Energy sags. So I’ve dug up some stuff from antiquity, from the days when energy was at a higher level. I’d actually forgotten about this one. But when Valparaiso University last Advent published a devotion book with gleanings from the chapel, there to ...
  • The Exodus: a Saving Event? Not Really [Part 2]
    Colleagues, ThTh 210 of three weeks ago questioned whether Israel’s Exodus from Egypt was a “saving event” at all. A number of you gave feedback. There was quite a spectrum. From kudos to critique. Kudos: “Once again . . . as the former Talking Heads’s David Byrne is quoted as saying: ‘Stop making sense.’ I.e., Thanks for ...
  • Till the Night Be Past: The Life and Times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Colleagues, Guest writer for this Thursday’s posting is Dr. Kit Kleinhans, Seminex alum, now Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at the ELCA’s Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. She reviews a Bonhoeffer book written by her father. “That’ll be a dicey job,” she said, when I asked her to do it, “to wrap my ...
  • The World Trade Center Revisited
    Colleagues, This week’s posting comes from Walter Bouman, a dear friend and theological buddy. Walt and I have known each other for over half a century starting with our time together as seminary students in 1950ff, then our doctoral studies in Germany in the mid-fifties, and a generation later on the ramparts in the Wars of ...
  • The Exodus, a Saving Event? Not Really
    Colleagues, I’ve been having e-conversation with a dear colleague about Exodus as a saving event. He calls it (and he’s hardly alone in this) “the central saving event of the Old Testament.” I don’t think so and here’s a recent letter I composed to tell him that.Peace & Joy! Ed Schroeder Dear ——My scepticism about the Exodus being ...
  • Grabbing at Jesus
    Every time I take another big step in my life, part of me thinks that I should be able to handle things on my own now. It’s not a part of me ...
  • Mission Theology for the 21st Century
    Colleagues, One of you readers tweaked me to stop beating around the bush and start to show and tell what I learned about mission theology during my Spring Semester term (January to May) at the Overseas Ministries Study Center (New Haven, Connecticut). OK, I will, and I’ll start with the book review below, which I just ...
  • Update from Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem
    Colleagues, The internet provider to Christmas Lutheran Church/ International Center in Bethlehem was down for seven weeks. Here is a message from Rev.Mitri Raheb sent our way on May 22. It includes links to a number of articles on their website. Day before yesterday Mitri followed up with another message reminding us that the siege really ...