Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality

[1] Love, we know, stands at the heart of both Christian doctrine and ethics: The gospel tells of God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ, and faith in the gospel gives arise to a life active in love for neighbor. The message is clear and simple, yet it leads us into the most basic […]

[1] The first encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, offers a “timely and significant” statement of the “heart of the Christian faith” in “a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence.” Encyclical statements of Catholic teaching have these dogmatic and ethical […]

[1] In his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI offers a vision of the Christian life with specific directives for the mission of the Roman Catholic Church. His argument is straightforward: God’s love given most concretely in Jesus Christ ought to be manifest in specific practices, such as charity, within the church. […]

[1] . . . love between man and woman, where body and soul are inseparably joined and human beings glimpse an apparently irresistible promise of happiness . . . would seem to be the very epitome of love; all other kinds of love immediately seem to fade in comparison (Deus Caritas Est, Part I.2). [2] […]

​[1] Vatican-banned Roman Catholic theologian Charles Curran writes that, to be in-line with Second Vatican Council ideals, papal encyclicals should address the role of liturgy in connection with social justice and daily life. However, “these documents make little or no reference to liturgy” (Curran 121). Curran’s criticism cannot be leveled against Deus Caritas Est, Pope […]

[1] Today, U.S. military commanders in Iraq are teaching classes in “core warrior values.” About 150,000 multinational troops are receiving remedial ethics education during June and July. The action comes in response to backlash over the massacre of 24 civilians at Haditha-and an alleged cover up of the incident. [2] Military authorities emphasize the training […]

[1] “Lutherans in Public” focused on how Lutherans have been, how they are or are not, and how they ought to be participants in the public realm, both as a church and as individual members of it. It was the theme of the 2006 Annual Gathering of Lutheran Ethicists in Scottsdale, Arizona, in January of […]

“For ye are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye […]

[1] Follow the fear. It will tell you what you need to know about the challenge of Christian witness in these times. It also reveals the wound that the incarnation of God in human flesh hungers to heal-making us, our nation and world more truly human. [2] A black pickup truck slows to make a […]

The following article, which includes the first three weeks of a six-week adult education program, has been excepted from Get Up Off Your Knees edited by Raewynne J. Whiteley and Beth Maynard. It has been reprinted here by permission of the publisher, Cowley Publications. For more information about purchasing this book from Cowley Publications, please […]