The Crossings Book Club is starting a new book on Thursday, August 24th.
Mark Mattes’ hope is not only to secure believers’ consciences in Christ but also to reclaim theological and social turf which mainline Protestants have too quickly ceded to various secular agendas.
The collected essays in Law & Gospel In Action: Foundations, Ethics, Church engage the reality of believers’ death and resurrection in Christ, and how that bears upon the life of faith while also attending to a wide range of relevant theological topics such as scriptural authority, apologetics, a critique of contemporary mainline Protestant and Evangelical Catholic ethics, a critique of Lutheran-Reformed ecumenism, and the church’s mission and outreach.
The collection concludes with several sermons based on Old Testament lessons seeking to show how the theology embedded in the essays can be used for proclamation.
A NOTE FROM CHRIS REPP: We are reading this book at the suggestion of Jerry Burce. Jerry thinks this will be a helpful read because the author is someone who 1. shares with Crossings folks our fundamental convictions about the nature and centrality of the gospel (he was a presenter at a Crossings conference some years ago) but 2. proceeds from a more traditional/conservative grounding and set of assumptions regarding the gospel’s application than the mainstream of today’s ELCA. The hope is that this will be both an exercise in deep listening and careful thinking about the gospel and its use, and a workshop in the much-needed art of respectful engagement with those with whom we might disagree. I hope that does not scare you away. Indeed, I hope that you will find it a welcome challenge, and look forward to seeing you!
If interested contact Chris Repp to register for the Zoom link. Copies of the book are available thru 1517’s website or on Amazon.
The Book Club meets bi-weekly on Thursdays for 90 minutes at 12:30 p.m. Central Time on Zoom.
This is what the schedule looks like through the end of the year:
August 24, Introduction and chapter 1
September 7 – chapter 2
September 21 – chapter 3 (On the Captivated and Liberated Will – only 8 pages, but I’m reluctant to combine it with another chapter.)
October 5 – chapter 4
October 19 – chapter 5
November 2 – chapter 6
November 16 – chapter 7
November 30 – chapter 8
December 14 – chapters 9 & 10 (~20 pages total)
December 28 – NO MEETING
January 11 – chapter 11
The Crossings Book Study differs from the monthly Crossings Table Talks in that the focus is on one book for an extended period of time rather than one short article per session.We hope to see you in August!
Previous Books discussed:
Low Anthropology by David Zahl
Living By Faith: Justification and Sanctification by Oswald Bayer
Gift and Promise – The Augsburg Confession and The Heart of Christian Theology by Ed Schroeder and a variety of other authors from the Crossings Community
The Preached God by Gerhard O. Forde
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