Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality

[1] In the days leading up to having dinner with Sister Helen Prejean, and hearing her speak in public at Princeton University, I made people laugh by telling them that I would really look forward to dinner with Susan Sarandon-who played Sister Helen Prejean in the Hollywood film, Dead Man Walking. However, after conversation with […]

[1] In 1960 I enrolled in the Ph. D. program at Princeton Theological Seminary. To my incredible delight and surprise Dr. Gerhard von Rad was to be a guest professor at Princeton for two quarters in the school year. I had been introduced to von Rad’s teachings my senior year at Trinity Seminary in Dubuque, […]

[1] This October was the first time my grandmother witnessed me in the role of pastor. I was baptizing my first grandson. Around the baptismal font stood five generations of my family. Why were we all standing there? Well, I would say that it was because of my grandmother. My maternal grandmother has heard me […]

[1] “The church,” writes John Stumme, “is about speaking and listening. For those who believe the church has responsibility in and for society, it follows quite naturally that Christians should talk together about the relationship of the faith to their responsibilities. Christians have done so for centuries in a variety of ways, and in a […]

[1] Journal of Lutheran Ethics continues its series on Pope Benedict’s first encyclical Deus Caritas Est, “God is love.” This month five more authors join the four from the August issue to offer their reflections on the pope’s letter. Three of the authors focus on theoretical themes arising from the letter and two draw out […]

[1] When I was in Seminary my wife and I lived in an apartment in downtown Gettysburg. Our landlady lived upstairs. Each month I would walk up a flight of stairs and deliver the rent check. One month, as I began that trek, I began to smell the aroma of fresh baking. As I entered […]

[1] Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, having generated less commentary than hoped, is nonetheless a remarkable introduction to the moderate-conservative professor of Tuebingen and then Regensburg, who is the current pontiff.1 Benedict’s expected criticisms of Euro-American consumerism and socio-political ideologies are represented, but also refined, in the two parts of the text. The […]

[1] Lutherans, insofar as they derive their theology from Luther, should welcome Pope Benedict’s Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. Luther, I think, would find this latest word from the Vatican surprisingly congenial. [2] Benedict argues from Scripture and presents his ideas pastorally, making the encyclical accessible to those with no formal theological training-both points that should […]

[1] Actual quotes from different persons: I can’t serve others without some kind of regular communal prayer. My primary call in ministry is to lead a community in worship. I left the (Baptist) seminary because I couldn’t see myself religiously legitimating suburban life cyle rituals. [2] What audacity measures love’s growth? In Deus Caritas Est, […]

[1] The first encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI is a reflection on I John 4:16b, the first words of which comprise its title: God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. It is dated December 25, 2005 (although it was released a month later, apparently […]