[1] Our Calling in Education (the Draft Social Statement) has many excellent points and is on the way to being a valuable statement for use in the ELCA. I make a few suggestions below that I believe could strengthen the statement, but basically applaud the work of those who have produced the document. The church […]
[1] This is an important and timely volume for several reasons. First, and most importantly, it addresses a question that is nothing less than urgent in our fractured and morally uncertain times: Is it possible to formulate a framework for moral thought, speech, and action that has as its goal the good of all? This […]
[1] As a Lutheran and a political scientist, I originally reacted to In Search of the Common Good as Gulliver: It seemed as though I had washed up on a strange beach, could not understand the native languages, and was uncertain whether I was surrounded by elves, giants, or horses. This is a book by, […]
[1] The second section of In Search of the Common Good is entitled “Classical Voices.” As the title of this section suggests, the essays are devoted to examining the concept of the common good as it has been understood in the writings of Thomas Aquinas, the body of teachings of the Catholic Church referred to […]
A new Web-based theological discussion site was launched in April by the Lutheran World Federation (Department for Theology and Studies), in connection with its global initiative, “Theology in the Life the Church.” Check out the initial papers and discussion forum at www.luthersem.edu/lwfdiscuss, where you can read what has been posted or sign up to be […]
[1] “Lutherans in Public” focused on how Lutherans have been, how they are or are not, and how they ought to be participants in the public realm, both as a church and as individual members of it. It was the theme of the 2006 Annual Gathering of Lutheran Ethicists in Scottsdale, Arizona, in January of […]
[1] In December 1944 the Norwegian Lutheran bishop Eivind Josef Berggrav (1884-1959) was featured on the cover of Time, becoming one of the few protestant religious figures to have been thus honored.1 In 1942, the New York Times chose him as one of the six religious leaders to be profiled in a series headlined “Churchmen […]
Introduction: outline and thesis of this essay [1] Is there a specific Lutheran contribution to political ethics in terms of public witness of good works and reflections on the place of good works within politics? The question of “good works” itself diverges from the traditions of political ethics, and is regarded as highly problematic by […]
April 2006: Taxes, Globalization (Volume 6 Issue 4)
[1] It is commonly argued that a nation cannot or should not, in prudence, levy taxes upon transnational corporations because this will induce them to flee to more accommodating nations, resulting in the loss of jobs and income. In this article I argue, first, that global capital markets make the separate taxation of corporations and […]
April 2006: Taxes, Globalization (Volume 6 Issue 4)
[1] It has often been said that little is certain in life but death and taxes. In my last article on “Social Movements in Early Christianity,” I dealt at some length with death and burial in the ancient world. With April 15th looming, it seems only right to turn to the second half of the […]
