Denise Rector

​There are many different philosophies of ethics. Which ones have informed the ELCA and how has that changed over its 25 year history? Dr. Roger Willer, Director for Theological Ethics in the Office of the Presiding Bishop, charts out the ELCA’s use of responsibility ethics, including what still has yet to be done.

The United States Senate has been called “the world’s most deliberative body.” It carefully considers proposals for public policy and is, therefore, engaged in “legislative deliberation.” By contrast, this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics focuses on the current commitment to and emerging emphasis upon deliberation in the life and work of the Evangelical […]

Book Review: Gary Laderman. American Civil Religion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2013, 93 pages, E-Book $12.99

Book Review: Soong-Chan Rah. Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church. Chicago: Moody, 2010. 208pp. $14.99.

Scripture calls us to aid the poor. Why should that be limited to only the private sphere? Lanoue explores the secular and religious arguments regarding tax reform and how it can help those who truly need it.

​The role of government is a debate often seen on the news today. This is not a new development. Weber explores how Lutherans have thought about government’s role during the Reformation in Europe as well as mid-twentieth century America. ​Where have Lutherans come from on this issue and how does this impact Lutherans today?

Recently in the United States, the debate about the size, scope and role of government has become a contentious issue. While some argue for “limited” government, others call for a more “expansive” role for government. In this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, one writer provides an historical overview of the ways in Lutherans […]

[1] John Witte, Jr. concludes this superb study with a prophecy: “Heaven will exalt due process, and each will always receive what’s due. Hell will exalt pure caprice, and no one will ever know what’s coming” (303). That is literally a prophecy, but a well-founded one drawn from the story Witte tells in this book. […]

After establishing that the Earth is entering a new period, the Anthropocene, Rasmussen uses the legacy of the Reformation, along with the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, to explore how humans need to enter a new Reformation in which we truly recognize the planet as sacred and treat it as such.

​Rasmussen writes that scientists have concluded that we have entered a new geological age due to human activity. We are now having a bigger impact on the natural environment than ever before, changing mountains, oceans, even the atmosphere itself. What should the moral or ethical response be when so-called natural disasters are the result of humans, particularly when the people who create the problems are not the people who suffer the worst effects?