Denise Rector

From Climate Justice: Ethics, Energy, and Public Policy copyright © 2010 Fortress Press. Reproduced by special permission of Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Complete copies of the book may be ordered at www.augsburgfortress.org Climate Justice: Ethics, Energy, and Public Policy: Conventional Energy Options Energy is the world’s biggest industry, by far . . . . All told, […]

[1] On October 31, 1999, an historic moment of ecumenical reception for Lutherans and Roman Catholics took place at Augsburg, Germany. The Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification was signed that day by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican. A decade later, on October 1, 2009, a service will be held […]

[1] Religious groups perpetually dialogue with their sociocultural contexts as they seek to define and maintain their identities as communities of faith. In other words, religious communities are constantly balancing continuity and change.[1] Recent decades have brought a series of rapid political, economic, philosophical, social, and spiritual shifts, and there is a growing movement of […]

[1] On October 31, 1999, an historic moment of ecumenical reception for Lutherans and Roman Catholics took place at Augsburg, Germany. The Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification was signed that day by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican. A decade later, on October 1, 2009, a service will be held […]

1] In less than two decades, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America made significant ecumenical advances and agreements with other Christian churches. Ranging from full communion agreements to bilateral dialogue statements, including the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), we have seen and celebrated some of the fulfillment envisioned by our Vision for […]

[1] Note: At the 2009 Annual Gathering of Lutheran Ethicists, Roger Willer introduced and described and commented upon the ethical and theological approach taken by the ELCA Task Force on Genetics in its study, Genetics and Faith: Power, Choice, and Responsibility. [2] Willer’s comments are not written down and presented in this issue of JLE, […]

[1] If there is one rule we need to follow in the wake of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, it is this: Do not break the eighth commandment (against false witness) in order to defend the sixth (against adultery and other sexual sins). Both those who supported the changes in policy and those who did not […]

[1] Helmut Thielicke (1908-1986), after obtaining doctorates in both philosophy and theology, became professor of theology at Heidelberg in 1936. He was removed from this position by the Nazis in 1940 because of his active participation in the confessing church. Though prohibited from public lectures, he continued preaching during the war years, building a reputation […]

[1] Since the beginning of the ELCA a relatively small number of members has worked continually to change traditional Christian teaching and practice in order to allow sexually active gays and lesbians in long-term relationships to be ordained. No matter how many votes they have lost they have persisted in their quest. They accept no […]

[1] It seems to me that Michael Root is off base in three claims that undergird his “Communion and Difference.” 1. His claim for “normative ethical teaching” in the church of the Augsburg Confession. 2. His claim that a “consensus of the wider church” exists about homosexuality–a clear “no”–and that this consensus is itself “normative” […]