William W. Wood is a retired scientist and lay preacher, trained in chemistry and theology at King’s College, University of London, and at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and a member of Faith Lutheran Church, Andover MA.
Luther, Bonhoeffer, Black Lives Matter, and the Role of the Church1
In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, many churches condemned White supremacy and racist violence. Racism is not limited to White supremacy and may be categorized as either motivational, arising from racial animus, or situational, arising from the conditions in which a racial minority finds itself, with a feedback loop whereby one type of racism encourages the other. These two types of racism both require both pastoral and prophetic responses from the church. An appropriate prophetic response can be modeled in the Lutheran tradition