Articles

Van Wieren, Gretel. Restored to Earth: Christianity, Environmental Ethics, and Ecological Restoration. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2013, 208 pages, paperback, $29.95.

One of the ways to combat climate change is to help to restore the natural environment. Churches like the ELCA are poised to be able to contribute to this effort because we own land in the form of congregations, social ministry organizations, outdoor ministries, as well as colleges and seminaries. Rhoads argues that we need to reconstruct our ideas of church land ownership to a more stewardship-focused approach. He goes on to list concrete ideas for individuals and congregations to help them realize how many opportunities they have to contribute to the greater movement against climate change.

Ecological restoration is a discipline started by conservationist Aldo Leopold in the 1930s. Religious scholars Sarah Taylor and Gertel Van Wieren have provided empirical assessments of ecological restoration among Christians, showing changes in practices and beliefs indicative of the “greening” called for by many others, but seldom empirically documented. Waldkoenig reports four cases of Lutheran involvement with ecological restoration, assesses them in light of practices and beliefs identified by Taylor and Van Wieren, and concludes with a Lutheran theology of ecological restoration in the sites studied and beyond.

What is the Christian response to climate change? For this month’s authors, Christians are called to be good stewards of the planet given to us by God. Part of that calling is preventing the worsening of climate change by restoring ecosystems to healthy states. Gil Waldkoenig looks at four case studies of Lutheran ministries that […]

Paul S. Chung, Ulrich Duchrow, and Craig L. Nessan. Liberating Lutheran Theology: Freedom for Justice and Solidarity with Others in a Global Context. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011, 292 pages.

Baker’s piece addresses the attendees of the Convocation of Lutheran Teaching Theologians directly, which is appropriate for his focus on context. Baker explores the importance of global experiences in theological education and asks professors to think of ways in which different global contexts can impact their students’ understanding of theology and even learning styles. On a larger scale, he also urges seminaries to establish effective partnerships that allow students from the United States to study abroad in addition to bringing students here. How can our theology reflect our relationships and our relationships reflect our theology?

This issue features two presentations given at the Convocation of Lutheran Teaching Theologians meeting this past fall. The two authors focused on the relationship of globalization and theological education, or lack thereof. How could we in the United States better serve our neighbors in the Global South in terms of the theology we create and […]

Globalization affects all aspects of our lives, from the products available at the supermarket to the music we hear on the radio. Church is not immune to this, nor should it be. However, Rajashekar points to how theological education has not effectively embraced the gifts of globalization. Instead, the pattern has been to continue to see white male theology as universally applicable and correct, and theology coming from the global South as relevant only in its own context. Rajashekar explores how this power imbalance influences the theology being produced as well as how students of theology are being educated in the all over the world.

Lloyd Steffen and Dennis R. Cooley. The Ethics of Death: Religious and Philosophical Perspectives in Dialogue. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014, 325pp.

Olson’s concern with the last twenty-five years of critical work on Paul’s identity as a Christ-believing hellenistic, diasporan Jew is its potential to shift the Lutheran paradigm of the proper boundaries of Christian praxis for Jews. Olson notes that this desire was expressed in the papers of the 2014 Helsinki consultation on “Continuity in the Body of the Messiah”. Christ-believing Jews wish “to express election and covenant-based Torah practice in the church” as part of their Christian witnesss. Such commitment to God’s earlier and continuing covenant is not foreign to Paul’s thinking about Jews, “… to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah (Rom 9:4-5)”. Thus, Mattison explores the question of would or could the Pharisaic, diasporan Paul have kept the Law while an apostle to the Gentiles? What would be the criterion for keeping the Law?