Articles

Racial Disparities in the American Criminal Justice System

[1] In 2007, over 7.3 million people in the United States were under some form of correctional supervision, including federal and state prison inmates (1.6 million), jail inmates (almost 800,000), those on probation (over 4 million), and those on parole (about 800,000).[1] This means that 1 in every 31 adults in the United States is […]

Recognizing the Other in Liturgical Acts: Religious Pluralism and Eucharist

[1] A major difficulty facing contemporary life is the misrecognition of persons. This is the social pathology whereby we can improperly recognize the religious other and thereby do violence to another.1 Misrecognition denotes a variety of processes. In general, it marks the way that a person can ignore another, treat a person as a thing […]

Editor’s Comments – Liturgical Ethics

[1] Melinda Quivik poses the question to us in her essay: How do we know what to do? Christians look to the liturgy, the work of its people, to find the answers. Confession, praise, prayer, Word, sacrament, and blessing form us even as we decide what musical setting to use and choose (or do not […]

Editor’s Comments – Preaching the Law

[1] Lately, JLE’s editors have been dreaming up ways of helping parish pastors do their work. This month begins a three-part series related to liturgy, the first of which is on the theme of “Preaching the Law.” Here one might ask the obvious question — why start with preaching the Law? [2] The answer, gentle […]

J. Michael Reu on the Christian Life

[1] Johann Michael Reu (1869-1943) was born in Diebach, Germany and trained for the pastoral ministry at the mission institute founded by Wilhelm Loehe in Neuendettelsau. He came to the United States in 1889, first serving as pastor at Mendota and then at Rock Falls, Illinois for ten years until 1899. Reu was next called […]

Gustaf Wingren’s Luther on Vocation after Sixty-five Years

This paper was originally presented at the International Luther Research Congress Porto Alegre, Brazil in July 2007. [1] In the later part of the twentieth century and continuing to the present day, there has been a resurgence of interest in the doctrine of vocation. Nearly all of these studies to a greater or lesser degree […]

Response to Mattes’ “Response” to Paths Not Taken

[1] I am grateful to Book Review Editor Michael Shahan for the invitation to respond to Mark Mattes [see Response to Hinlicky’s “Paths Not Taken”, May 2010, Vol. 10, No. 5.], even as I am honored by the elaborate attention Mattes has paid to my recent book, Paths Not Taken (hereafter PNT). Shahan rightly says […]

Preaching Law to the “Lost Generation”

[1] It is November 4, 2008. I live in Chicago, and I am one of the lucky ones who has secured a ticket to be in Grant Park on the night of the election. My husband and I are there together, and all around me, as far as I can see, are people who are […]

Preaching the Law in My Pastoral Setting

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. – Matthew 28:19–20 [1] Jesus commissioned his apostles to carry on his mission to the ends of the earth. That mission includes bringing people to new life through the sacrament of baptism, and teaching […]

The Preaching of the Law to Lawbreakers

[1] It is the Word as received by the congregant, not as spoken by the preacher, that makes the impact. The Law portion of that Word is intended to inspire repentance and thus drive the penitent towards the arms of Christ. The Law and the Gospel are dissimilar and distinct concepts which are nonetheless inextricably […]