Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality

[1] In his second address to the nation after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, the United States President, George Bush, called the military operation scheduled against Afghanistan “Operation Infinite Justice.” The bombing got started days later and continues today, October 2001. White House and Pentagon spokesmen insist that American people, as well as […]

[1] I serve as pastor of a wonderfully diverse, small (but growing) downtown congregation in Jersey City, New Jersey. Jersey City, for those who may be unaware of our location, is right across the river from lower Manhattan. The magnificence of the World Trade Center had been the primary view from our side of the […]

[1] We outlined and began writing this article in August 2002. In the ensuing weeks, a number of ethical and moral issues emerged in the United States in general and in the African American context in particular. These issues have implications for both church and society. These issues caused us to pause and reflect as […]

[1] “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, ‘where is your God?’ These […]

Introduction/Purpose [1] This paper addresses African American youth leadership and the role that the Lutheran church can play in their development. In giving our opinion, based on our experiences on this subject, we will define youth, citing some of their needs as it applies to leadership. We will 1) identify how the church responds to […]

[1] Upon finishing Sermons: Biblical Wisdom for Daily Living, a collection of forty sermons preached by the Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes, to the multicultural, cosmopolitan congregation of Harvard’s Memorial Church, my soul spoke to me saying, “Peter Gomes may be a twenty-first century Don Quixote, daring to ‘Dream the Impossible Dream,’ of the coming […]

[1] The next three issues of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics will focus on various dimensions of the theme: “Ethics and Family: An African American Perspective.” The theme emerged in conversations with several members of the Conference of International Black Lutherans (an association of African and African American Lutheran teaching theologians and bishops in the […]

[1] Whenever mainstream Protestant religious intellectuals and church leaders-let’s call them religious professionals-reach near unanimity on questions of political policy, especially foreign policy, it is time to be suspicious. They seem to have reached near unanimity in opposing American policy toward Iraq. [2] Now, it is axiomatic that on foreign policy questions those religious professionals […]

[1] Here in Columbus I often see flags for Ohio State, especially on game days. There are very few flags for other teams. Football unites Columbus. People who have never attended O.S.U. talk about the O.S.U. team as “us” and the opposing team as “them.” Refereeing decisions unfavorable to O.S.U. are often condemned. Supporters usually […]

[1] Perhaps the most difficult element in Lutheran social ethics, yet one of the most important, is the doctrine of the twofold rule of God, sometimes called the “two kingdoms” doctrine. This doctrine has also been the most vulnerable to distortion. Karl Barth was the first to call this Lutheran teaching “the two kingdoms doctrine,” […]