Articles

[1] A task force has been at work for more than a year. There have been lively debates at synod assemblies, adult forums in congregations, articles and letters in The Lutheran. In August the Churchwide Assembly heard progress reports, and in 2005 it is expected that there will be recommendations and an assembly vote. Some […]

[1] JLE: Tell us a little about yourself and your farming operation: how many acres do you farm, what do you produce, what area of the country are you in, how long has this land been in your family? [2] DG: My name is Dennis Gengenbach and I am 54 years old. I have a […]

A preface to a JLE portfolio on the life, theology and ethical constructs of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. [1] For the last two years running the semester’s start brought a knot of students to my door demanding a special reading course on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Interest sparked by the week-long courses offered each January by the Rev. Dr. […]

[1] The wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 has been marked by approaches to law and justice on the part of the United States government which have the potential for profound adverse effect. Domestic and international legal orders; conceptions of human and civil rights; and the balance of relationships among states, citizens […]

[1] It is one of the oldest conundrums of human thought: What is evil? What are the origins of evil-human, natural, supernatural? What is the character of evil-sin, suffering, catastrophe, death, oppression, war? How do we think about and experience evil and how does the Christian tradition shape the way we view evil and respond […]

[1] This passionate, clearly-written book is a post-Euro-American essay in Lutheran theological ethics. Which helps to explain its considerable strengths and some of its unfinished business. [2] Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda teaches Christian ethics at Seattle University. She writes from the perspective of an intense Third World experience. She served for a number of years as […]

[1] With the publication of Silent Spring in 1962, Rachel Carson launched environmental issues into the public consciousness and wider political debate. Carson, a scientist, expressed concern over the adverse impact of the widespread use of chemicals and the common assumption that such uses were safe. She argued that these chemicals – including the some […]

[1] Under the leadership of Dr. James Nash, former Executive Director of the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and at the request of the Chlorine Chemistry Council, a select number of ethicists from universities and theological schools across the country were invited to participate in an open-ended dialogue. The idea […]

[1] A remembered chapter-title from a now all but forgotten high school history text lives in my mind with the vitality of a banner whipped by the wind! This is the title, “The Promise and Hope of American Life”. Phrases have a way of sticking, or gathering up into themselves over the years multitudes of […]

[1] The year 1950 has been described as the “crossroads of American religious life.”[1] It was a paradoxical time of oppressive anxiety and intoxicating prosperity. Anxiety was fed by events and situations that had thrust Post-World War II America into a frightening new world: the Cold War and threats of Communist espionage and subversion; atomic […]