Book Reviews

[1] The theological roots of Christian Nationalism can be found in the dominionist theology of Calvinist Rousas John Rushdoony. Considered the father of Christian Reconstructionism, Rushdoony, in the Institutes of Biblical Law, championed biblical covenantal mandates as the basis for theonomy, and promoted the submission of all aspects of society to “Christian values.” Rushdoony’s thought […]

[1] If God does not exist, is human existence bereft of ultimate meaning and significance? If immortality is impossible, if there is no afterlife, what explains fear of death or being posthumously forgotten by the world? Are ethical norms and values simply groundless and pragmatic conventions? These represent some of the perennial problems associated with […]

[1] A chaplain once shared with me his practice of entering a patient’s room by asking the patient who had already visited. He would name the likely guests — fear, guilt, uncertainty — not as a diagnosis, but to open a door. Whatever the patient confirmed or corrected, a conversation had already begun. He arrived […]

[1] This multi-authored book is of South African Origin with a suite of international theologian authors and scholars who have various other specialties.  It is the second book in a series, “An Earthed Faith: Telling the Story Amid the ‘Anthropocene’” –the Anthropocene has come to mean the geologic age we live in, extensively modified by […]

[1] In this edition of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics we will consider two reviews focused on ethics, and Christian ministry/pastoral care. [2] The prologue to the 1993 ELCA Social Statement, Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice, establishes this church’s commitment to creation and the challenges posed by climate change.  “Christian concern for the […]

[1] Esteemed readers of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics, this “Summer Books Issue” contains four reviews and recommendation of readings on the issue of Christian Nationalism. We include book reviews from a broad range of topics including travel, philosophy, ethics, and spirituality. It is our hope that these diverse reviews resonate and influence a decision […]

[1] Richard Lischer invites us into a compelling story told by a wonderfully diverse cast of storytellers. Readers of the JLE would likely have already met many of the folks here, but probably not in this way, with the types of questions Lischer poses for them (and us) to ponder. As we read their stories, […]

[1] The ELCA social statement Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-Being of All defines Christian Nationalism as:  A cultural framework that idealizes and advocates fusion of highly selected Christian beliefs with U.S. civic life. This nationalistic ideology holds, among other   things, that the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired, that Christianity should be a […]

    We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men   [1] This Lost Generation lament for selves in search of authenticity is taken up by Catholic University of America’s Angela Franks in a deeply researched elegy for “the identity crisis in the West: the crisis of the subject that resists being fixed.”  […]

(Contact Book Review Editor William Rodriguez if you are interested in reviewing any of these books. We will get you a copy of the book for free.)   A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century: Confrontations with Nothingness by Jon Stewart (physical copy available for mailing) A Guidebook to Progressive Church by Clint Schnekloth […]