Articles

What is polarization?   [1] As befits a preacher, I begin today with a quote from a great theological authority in these matters, Rabbi Leonard of Montreal, who wrote:   I’m sentimental if you know what I mean I love the country but I can’t stand the scene And I’m neither left or right, I’m […]

[1] This issue of JLE publishes the papers given at the January 2025 Lutheran Ethicists Gathering held in Chicago. The theme of the Gathering was constructive use of Lutheran theology and practice to resist polarization–to resist the pull of separation from our neighbors in a political situation which is designed to destroy common community. The […]

[1] The Journal of Lutheran Ethics hopes to provide reading material to stimulate thinking and conversation among academics, clergy, and laity. To this end, this section is included in each issue of JLE in order to encourage constructive discussion within congregations about the topics discussed in JLE.  Consider using this section in formal adult education […]

Note: From the Editor It is the practice of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics to consider for publication letters written to the Journal about current or past issues or in regard to current events. Letters to the editor should be sent to the email address linked here for consideration by the editor. Authors will be contacted by the editor if the letter […]

November 5, 2024 [1] Something substantive on the cultural-political landscape changed on the morning after the November 5, 2024 U.S. elections. When Professor Amy Carr and I were writing Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice (Baylor University Press 2023) in 2022-2023, the political state in the U.S. seemed stuck in […]

[1] What does theology have to do with ethics? The significance of this question might not be as pressing for Roman Catholic and Reformed theologians as it is for Lutheran theologians and ethicists. Roman Catholic theology has a history of connecting doctrine with moral teachings. Similarly, Reformed theology has historically insisted on the relation of […]

[1] This year, 2025, marks the 500th anniversary of Katie and Martin Luther’s wedding.  Notably, Martin Luther wrote in 1519 (six years before his own marriage and seven years before the birth of his first child) that raising children is a parent’s highest calling.  In 1520, in his Letter to the Christian Nobility, he tells […]

[1] In Martin Luther’s Christmas sermons, he used all his rhetorical gifts to paint with words the images of a tiny and fragile baby nosed by animals looking in their feed box, a poor mother forced to give birth in the dark and in the cold because no one would help her, a father wrapping […]

[1] Maternal health, a vital component of public health, encompasses the physical, mental, and social well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Effective maternal health services, which include access to prenatal care, nutritional support, mental health resources, and postpartum care, are essential for reducing maternal mortality and fostering healthy outcomes for mothers […]

[1] As part of our issue on “The Ethics of Raising Healthy Children,” I interviewed activist Deanna Branch.  Branch has been gaining national attention for her work.  She appeared at the State of the Union Address in January of 2024 and at the Democratic National Convention in August of 2024.   I started with the question, […]