Articles

A Story from Malaysia: Standing Together Against Violence [1] When I started as a church planter in the year 2000, I never set a goal to be a prophet or social activist. I do not think my Malay-Muslim friend Ali, who was a businessman, not a religious leader, saw himself as my fellow comrade for […]

Introduction [1] Alliances between conservative religious movements and authoritarianism are not historically anomalous, nor uniquely Christian. But with democracy and its legitimacy on the wane in the West,[1] Trumpism’s overwhelming mobilisation of, and sustained appeal to, evangelical Christianity has spurred a re-examination.[2] Trumpism shows that the conservative-religious/authoritarian alliance promises moral and national restoration without the […]

[1] Alarmed at the perceived creep of authoritarianism in the present U.S. Administration, especially at the enforcement tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this declaration written by a California pastor and modeled on the Barmen Declaration of 1934 in Germany, aims to stiffen and clarify the Church’s public witness as a check against a creeping […]

[1] Esteemed readers of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, this edition contains two reviews. [2] Pastor Thomas Johnston examined James M. Childs’ ReEngaging ELCA Social Teaching on The Church in Society. This is the first in a series of books, “For the Sake of the World,” reexamining the social teaching of the ELCA. Pr. Johnston […]

[1] Four years after its inception, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued its first teaching document, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective at its second Churchwide Assembly in 1991.[1] This statement, which passed by a two-thirds majority, signified that the newly constituted ELCA would “commit itself to serve God and neighbor in its […]

[1] In 2019 the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Milwaukee, WI., condemned white supremacy by declaring that (1) white supremacy is racism, and (2) violent rhetoric against persons of color in the name of so-called “Christian Nationalism” is not a true Christian faith. It is idolatry and the church condemns it.[1] The connection between Christian nationalism […]

      In this episode, our host, Rev. Matthew Best, interviews Rev. Dr. Sivin Kit, who serves as Director for Theology, Mission and Justice at the Lutheran World Federation. In a time that can feel hopeless, what can we learn from our Lutheran siblings working for justice and peace throughout the world? This interview […]

[1] Crossing Boundaries is the perfect book for this summer’s travel season.  Published during the pandemic, when traveling was all but closed, this book encourages travel as a path to personal growth and community peace building in a world marked by escalating conflict and division. Today, although the pandemic is over and the world even […]

    We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men   [1] This Lost Generation lament for selves in search of authenticity is taken up by Catholic University of America’s Angela Franks in a deeply researched elegy for “the identity crisis in the West: the crisis of the subject that resists being fixed.”  […]

 In this issue we would like to point those who lead Congregational Discussion with 2 resources that include study guides and questions.  [1]  For those interested in learning more about the original Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed, the ELCA has created a study guide for congregations.  This can be found here. [2]  In […]