Articles

For Congregational Discussion: Addressing the Sin of Child Abuse

[1] This issue of JLE gives congregations an opportunity to host two kinds of adult education discussion.  The first, is to consider the possibility of non-violent parenting.  Reading Kathleen Gallagher Elkin’s essays on the Household Codes of Ephesians, participants might consider what it would mean to rethink the way we expect the use of force […]

Book Review: We Are Electric: Inside the 300-Year Hunt for Our Body’s Bioelectric Code, and What the Future Holds by Sally Adee

[1] Science and technology writer Sally Adee has written a book that provides a summary of the research demonstrating that electric currents run throughout bodies, even in the mind, and every living thing (the field of bioelectricity).  This is a valuable volume for Christian ethicists and for any Christian thinker interested in what theology can […]

Book Review Introduction: December 2023/January 2024

[1] As we enter the Christmas season, Diane Yeager reviews The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate by Eric Vanden Eykel.  From the history of biblical interpretation to contemporary literature to the covers of Christmas cards, the Magi capture our imagination. Yeager’s review explores Vanden Eykel’s scholarship and concludes […]

Book Review: The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate by Eric Vanden Eykel

[1] The Magi is a hybrid book by teacher/scholar Eric Vanden Eykel that seems designed to engage scholarly literature sufficiently to establish his reliability as a biblical scholar while also offering an analysis that will be both accessible to and engaging for college students and laypeople.  His project is essentially one of “high popularization”—a commitment to […]

Editor’s Introduction: The Lutheran Catechism as a Call Towards Our Ethical Concerns

[1] As we head towards Reformation Sunday, this issue of JLE presents four articles on how understanding Luther’s teachings calls us to consider our ethical responsibilities. These four articles were research presentations in the “Luther and Religion” seminar within the 14th International Congress for Luther Research held at California Lutheran University in 2022.  I am […]

Communion for All: A Queer, Lutheran Sacrament of Wild Welcome

  We must know that we are not only welcome at this meal; we are this meal.…God, great Mother/Father/[Spirit] God, move through the elements prepared today….Break this bread in our hearts, so that we will know the urgency of speaking as queer Christians….Give us the breath and blood of people who can witness the welcome […]

For Congregational Discussion: The Lutheran Catechism as a Call Towards Our Ethical Concerns

Mary Lowe’s article asserts that many Christians find reading about Biblical acceptance makes them more accepting of others with differences as well.  She suggests that Lutherans might find a deeper study of Luther’s theology to be similarly liberating.  This issue suggests ways that a look at Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms might help a reader […]

The Theology of Holy Communion Empowers Christians to End Sexual Harassment and Assault

Introduction [1] [1] Holy Communion matters for Lutherans. It is central to who we understand ourselves to be as Christians. Lutherans believe and teach that the Lord’s Supper is not simply bread and wine eaten in a reenactment of the Last Supper, but, as Martin Luther teaches in The Large Catechism, “it is bread and […]

Creation Theology and the Climate Crisis

Introduction[1] [1] The imminent climate crisis makes questions regarding our relationship with the creator and the created reality to which we belong extremely important. It presses us to consider what it means to believe in God, the creator, and what it means to be created in the image of our creator. These questions are pressing, […]

Delighting in our Neighbors  Who are Non-Religious: A Lutheran Theological Proposal

Introduction [1] The Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community at St. Olaf College, which I direct, is charged with articulating why and how Lutheran theology, tradition, and affiliation still matter at an institution like St. Olaf that boasts an increasingly diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. The number of students identifying as Lutheran […]