Articles

[1] We are living through a technological watershed driven by artificial intelligence. Since the arrival of early generative Large Language Models (LLMs) in 2017, billions of dollars, years of research, and instruments of state power have all been used to reshape our world to better accommodate the next generation of AI models.[1] These technologies are […]

[1] “If we open up ChatGPT or a system like it and look inside, you just see millions of numbers flipping around a few hundred times a second, and we just have no idea what any of it means….We built the computers, but then we just gave the faintest outline of a blueprint and kind […]

[1] To describe the concerns raised by artificial intelligence (AI) would require us to speak of a broad swath of concerns: the environment, energy supply, human rights, privacy, employment, the future of the arts, and scholarship. While those who aim to profit financially from AI focus on its potential, which does indeed seem remarkable, other […]

[1] In November of 2025, the ELCA approved a social message on child protection which calls for a number of reforms and greater theological engagement with the topic of child abuse. One of the resources cited in the social message is Here We Stand: A Lutheran Response to Child Abuse. This book is a collection […]

[1] Esteemed readers of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, in this volume we shall explore a recent morally significant theological examination of the Lutheran approach to child abuse. Child abuse is a pressing social problem with severe long-lasting effects that has commonly been recognized as a major public health crisis in our society. The Journal […]

How should Christians think about AI? In this episode, we talk about the role and challenges of AI and faith.    

[1] Martin Luther was a pastor, a husband, and a father.  He was, also, a university professor.  He was a tireless advocate for education for girls as well as boys, for the working poor as well as for the wealthy elite.  He insisted to both parents and princes that they must provide education for all […]

[1] Chad Lakies’s argument in his book How the Light Shines Through: Resilient Witness in Dark Times challenges the church to take seriously the pluralistic secular age we live within and approaches theology and faith in a new way but does not encourage the church to lose its own identity in the process. This book […]

[1] On Sunday, July 20, 2025, my Lutheran congregation sang these lines from “Lord You Give the Great Commission” (ELW #579): Lord, you show us love’s true measure: “Father, what they do, forgive.” Yet we hoard as private treasure all that you so freely give. May your care and mercy lead us to a just […]

[1] In this edition we include two singular book reviews that deal with a constructive proposal for Christian Ethics and social engagement, and a guidepost for examining the church’s place and role in the world. [2] Jason Mahn’s review of Angela Carpenter’s Grace and Social Ethics: Gift as the Foundation of Our Life Together, offers […]