- Evangelical Church and Theology in the Ethiopian Revolution
Colleagues,
In 1995 we were ELCA Global Mission Volunteers in Ethiopia. We stay in contact with a few folks there. Ethiopia is one of the world’s unhappiest nations. That was also the case when we were there. There is renewed turmoil these days, though it’s not front page news here in the West. Actually threefold turmoil. ...
- Thank You Notes After Christmas
Colleagues,
Herewith my Thank You notes–really an open letter–to all the folks who blessed me with an essay in that Birthday Festscrift last month. Responding to each contributor in those 229 pages I did exceed my own length-limit for a regular ThTh post. But I trust you can adjust. FYI, there still are Festschrift copies available ...
- Darwin, Design and Christmas
Colleagues,
Only in America! Only in America could this farce continue. This week we Americans have been given a definitive ruling. A judge has said: One way of comprehending about the world we live in is religion, the other way is not. Case closed.
Only in America, where religion thrives, is it a no-no to be “religious” ...
- Michael and the Dragon–On Earth the Battle Continues. Two Case Studies: Narnia and India
Colleagues,
Case Study #1. Narnia
Marie and I saw the Narnia movie yesterday, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” C.S. Lewis’ classic tale of Christ the Redeemer confronting the power of evil in an imaginary world. Yet it is the world we live in ourselves, Lewis wants to tell us. ...
- Is “church” an “active noun,” the subject of sentences? In the NT never
Colleagues,
It’s so commonplace in our rhetoric these days that “the church” is the grammatical subject of sentences. “The church is doing this or that, or it isn’t, but it ought to.” One of you sent me a jeremiad this week bemoaning what all “the church” is not doing that it should be doing. Which nudged ...
- What is Christian Spirituality? Answer: Faith in Christ
Colleagues,
Today’s ThTh posting #390 comes from Timothy Hoyer, Pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran congregation (ELCA) in Lakewood, New York.Peace & Joy!
Ed Schroeder
Faith in Christ is Christian Spirituality
People are trying to get closer to God. That desire to get closer to God, to feel closer to God, along with what one does to feel closer, is ...
- Theological Perspectives on Max Beckmann’s Paintings
Colleauges,
Now on the downhill side of “70-something” I slide more easily into nostalgia–and the occasional un-remembered surprises that come from rummaging around in ancient manila folders. Here’s one for USA Thanksgiving 2005.Background. 1984 was the hundredth anniversary of the birth of artist Max Beckmann, renowned German expressionist, pioneer of “New Objectivity,” once a guest-professor in ...
- The Current Brouhaha About Intelligent Design
Colleagues,
Some thoughts.
Evolution or Devolution?
In this week’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, local columnist Bill McClellan–beloved whimsical homespun philosopher–made a pitch for “devolution” in the current hassle about evolution. Things do indeed change, but if evolution suggests improvement, things are really NOT getting better. Bill made that perfectly clear–at least for those of us who cherish his kind ...
- Gospel Blazes in the Dark
Colleagues,
I told them not to do it, but they wouldn’t listen. So Sunday last, November 6, the actual date of my 75th birthday, the Crossings folks confected a celebration. It started with a 3 p.m. “Festival Eucharist,” so they called it, at our home congregation, Bethel Lutheran here in St. Louis. Up front were my ...
- Luther’s 95 Theses–What Was That all About?
Colleagues,
Four days hence is Reformation Day in the Lutheran Church calendar. For other Christians, who don’t see Luther’s debate proposal of October 31, 1517 as quite that important, it’s still the Eve of All Saints Day (Nov. 1). And for the secular culture of America it’s Halloween [the “E’en”–equals evening–before “All Hallows (old English for ...
