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In this “Summer Books Issue” we include book reviews that consider Christianity and the laws of migration; racism through lenses of science and faith; religion and foreign policy; the emotional and experiential power of theological doctrines; and the value of disruption in the church.  Happy reading!

[1] Disruption by Mark DeYmaz was a book written for me. The summary on the back of the volume says it all: “We must become disruptive.” The author is talking about how we think about church. Amen. [2] In defining a disruptor, DeYmaz turns to an opinion piece by Mel Robbins, an expert on human […]

[1] Just months before his untimely death in 1963, H. Richard Niebuhr issued a rousing call for “a recovery of feeling in theology.”[1] Though he affirmed Barth’s rejection of any point of contact between revelation and human experience, he felt the pendulum had now swung too far. In securing the objectivity of the Word of […]

[1] Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy is an argument for the importance of religious competency in foreign policy. Author Shaun Casey, a religious scholar, was the founding director of the US State Department’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs in the Obama Administration. This book serves as […]

[1] Wired For Racism opens with a helpful introduction that sets a foundation for the chapters to come. Readers learn about the dichotomy between the authors, with Woodall being “a millennial Black Baptist preacher” and Ellingsen “a baby boomer, a White minister” (Norwegian-American Lutheran.)[1] This contrast is important because it sheds light on the minds […]

[1] Christianity and the Law of Migration comes at an opportune time. This volume of essays brings law and legal principles into conversation with Christian Scriptural, ethical, and theological concepts on the topic of global migration. The work represents an important intervention into scholarly, humanitarian, and policy discussions at a time when millions of people […]

I read this book during Lent, which was the perfect time to read such a book. And let me just say – WOW! Great book. I highly recommend it. For our purposes here, I’m going to break down the review of the book in a manner similar to the structure of the book itself, which […]

As we enter Holy Week, we explore a creative form of book reviewing used by ELCA Pastor Matthew Best who has transformed his book review into blog posts reflecting on each day in Holy Week. The book inspiring his reflections is Jason Porterfield’s Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Wages Peace Throughout Holy Week.  He posted […]

As indicated in the editor’s introduction, this submission to the April 2023 issue provides readers with a snapshot of themes and content reported from the break-out group discussion session at the January 2023 Lutheran Ethicists’ Gathering.  This informal summary was compiled by Rev. Rebecca Nin​​ke and Dr. Jennifer Hockenbery; it does not represent official minutes […]

INTRODUCTION [1] The United States of America is exceptional in many ways. This includes the fact that there are more guns (c. 400 million) than people in the country (332 million) and that we have more gun violence than other high-income nations. Many draw a clear line between more guns and more gun violence. I […]