August 2009 (Volume 9 Issue 8)
[1] This issue of JLE focuses on human genetics. The articles were first presented to the 2009 Annual Gathering of Lutheran Ethicists held last January at the Cenacle Retreat and Conference Center in Chicago. [2] The topic was chosen because of the ongoing work of the ELCA Task Force on Genetics which is charged with […]
August 2009 (Volume 9 Issue 8)
[1] People who do not realize that their choices reveal their character think they have a choice as to whether or not to be self-disclosing. They don’t. Character is revealed by choice; as Aristotle says in his Poetics, we reveal ourselves in every choice we make from what we say, what we choose to wear, […]
The Scene of the Compromise [1] The recommendations on ministry policy made by the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality and coming before the 2009 Churchwide Assembly have provoked disparate responses from differing constituencies within the ELCA. The report of the task force itself includes as an appendix two dissenting positions from members […]
[1] Anticipation and anxiety continue to mount as the ELCA Churchwide Assembly draws near. The Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies stands in the forefront of many minds bringing with it a flood of commentaries, petitions, and conversations. All corners of the ELCA including theologians, congregations, seminarians, and clergy have voiced nuanced perspectives on the […]
[1] During the current church-wide discussion about the ELCA statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” and the “Report and Recommendation on Ministry Policies” we, the undersigned members of the faculty of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, remember Paul’s advice to our Christian community: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no […]
[1] The decisive argument in the two texts produced by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality – the proposed social statement “Human Sexuality – Gift and Trust“ (hereafter, HSGT) and the related set of concrete proposals “Report and Recommendations on Ministry Policies” (RRMP; in both cases, references will be to line numbers) – […]
[1] A few months ago, I taught a class on sexuality for our 9th grade confirmation students. As the class began, I asked them to write on an index card what they believed the bible said about sex. To a student, all 22 responses were the same: “if you have sex before marriage, you’ll go […]
[1] A few months ago, I taught a class on sexuality for our 9th grade confirmation students. As the class began, I asked them to write on an index card what they believed the bible said about sex. To a student, all 22 responses were the same: “if you have sex before marriage, you’ll go […]
[1] Thank you to the Journal of Lutheran Ethics for this invitation to reflect on the proposed social statement. Thank you also to the ELCA Task Force on Human Sexuality for their work. I imagine it has been a long and difficult journey. It is my prayer that their journey together has built them up […]
What follows is an excerpt from my forthcoming Luther and the Beloved Community: A Path for Christian Theology after Christendom (Eerdmans, Spring, 2010). Since I have elsewhere made my sharp and fundamental critique of the draft Social Statement and its accompanying Recommendations on Rostered Ministry. I am thankful to Kaari Reierson for the invitation to […]
