heatherdean

Posts by heatherdean

Journal of Lutheran Ethics: The Podcast Episode 2 “Unpacking Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times”

Americans are more divided from one another than at any point in recent history. The divisions that we feel individually are even seen in recent research. Even faith communities are not free of sharp polarization.  But that doesn’t have to be the case. In this episode, host Matthew Best talks with Amy Carr and Christine […]

Read More

Book Review: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

[1] Christine Emba, in an insightful Opinion piece published by the Washington Post in July of 2023, presented a fascinating cultural problem that has been overlooked and underestimated by many in this country.[i] It has to do with a crisis of masculinity as a result of changing cultural and social values, a more expansive view […]

Read More

Book Review Introduction: October/November 2024

Today I offer a special thanks to our readers, writers and reviewers. After approximately 7 years as book review editor, I have resigned from this position in order to create more space in my life for new projects and adventures. As I welcome William Rodriquez as the new book review editor, I am pleased to […]

Read More

Leaning In to the Constructive Criticisms: On Justice, the Heart of the Gospel, Quietism, and Both-Sideism`

[1] In the section above we situated the responses to our book in a historical framework of Lutheran thought. We now lean into thinking with some of the questions, concerns, and alternatives offered by our reviewers. [2] Both Justin Nickel and Leah Schade commented that we had not clarified the precise notion of justice presupposed […]

Read More

Justification and Justice-Seeking: Beyond a Dualist Inheritance

[1] Our book Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times offers conversation as the intersubjective mode we have as persons and Christians for exchanging our respective positions on difficult topics. We thank our interlocutors in this issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics for engaging with themes in our book that resonated with them. We began writing […]

Read More

Whose Justice?: Specifying Terms and Adding Examples in a Review of Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times

[1] In Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice, Amy Carr and Christine Helmer are concerned with the polarization that runs through our country and congregations.[1] Though this polarization’s content is most often political—think of the red-blue state divide, or our siloing mediated by social media and cable news—Carr and Helmer […]

Read More

The Importance of Moral Discernment: An Extended Review of Ordinary Faith

[1] Amidst a society wrenched apart by forces hell-bent on splintering the body politic as well as the Body of Christ, Amy Carr and Christine Helmer have co-written Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times which offers a theological framework for helping Christians engage in moral discernment and “justice-seeking.” For the authors, the concept of Christian identity […]

Read More

Beyond Purity: An Extended Review of Ordinary Faith

[1] Is it possible for Christians to express earnest and thoughtful disagreement with one another about contested political issues while retaining shared community in Christ? As a matter of actual practice, is it possible to imagine openly disagreeing in a productive way within congregations without vilifying one’s opponents? This is the challenge that Amy Carr […]

Read More

Doctrinal Theology: Enlightening The Root Which Bears the Fruit

[1] There can be little question that doctrinal theology, not to mention “dogmatics,” has become disreputable, not only in the eyes of hostile critics of Christianity, but also to the consciences of many Christians. For ELCA Lutherans in particular, doctrinal theology connotes ecclesiastical policing, conjuring up medieval inquisitions, rancorous disputation, hairsplitting scholasticism, witch hunts, heresy […]

Read More

October/November 2024: For Congregational Discussion

[1] As the ELCA finalizes its discussion on civic life and faith and Americans go to the polls for the presidential election, many people are afraid to discuss their stance about politics at church while others proudly proclaim that their views are the only right ones.  Rather than this flight or fight response, we at […]

Read More