Christian Living, Discipleship, and/or Spirituality

[1] My first encounter with Islam was much more sensory than theological. In Fall 1981 our family of four arrived in Damascus, Syria, to begin a year of teaching and research. Immediately we were immersed in the sights and sounds and smells of the Arab East, if not always of Islam itself. Outside the bedroom […]

Part 1 of a 2 part series. From Christians in Society: Luther, the Bible, and Social Ethics by William H. Lazareth, © 2001 Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission. For part two, click here. [1] This chapter will summarize the ethical dimensions and/or implications of Luther’s multifaceted doctrine of justification by faith. While virtually all of […]

Copyright © 1994, Word & World, Luther Seminary. Word & World, Supplement Series 2, pp. 48-56. First published in the Lutheran Theological Seminary Bulletin 68/1 (Winter 1988), pp. 3-11. Dr. Forell delivered it in lecture form at the October, 1987, “Luther Symposium” at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Used with permission. A Focus of Controversy [1] While Luther […]

Copyright © 1994, Word & World, Luther Seminary.Word & World, Supplement Series 2, pp. 57-65. First published in The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Bulletin 55/1 (1975) pp. 3-11, and delivered first at the 1974 Martin Luther Colloquium. Used with permission. [1] It is part of the conventional wisdom that the reformation was based upon […]

Preached in Christ Chapel, Gustavus Adolphus College on November 9, 2001 Exodus 3:13-20 [1] Well, the Federal Reserve has cut the prime rate by another half-percent. . . . Things are looking up for the New York Stock Exchange; a few days ago, I heard, it closed at its highest level since September 11. Inflation […]

Copyright © LET’S TALK. Used with permission. From Let’s Talk, Volume 6, Issue 2 [1] Comparing our two moral traditions is probably a dangerous undertaking for a Roman Catholic (or for a Lutheran, for that matter). I shall therefore begin with words from a mentor, James Gustafson. In his important work, Protestant and Roman Catholic […]

[1] “I’m a loving person, but I have a job to do,” said the President. His statement reminds one of the famous distinction Luther made when he wrote about the Christian’s calling. He said that if an individual Christian went into the forest and was beset by robbers, he might well not resist and even […]

Church Council Meeting: Wednesday Sept. 19th, 2001 An item not on the agenda: “Can we put the flag back in the Sanctuary?” Pastor (17 months in ministry): “I would counsel against that, but I don’t think we should discuss it now.” [1] In my now-29 months in ministry I have been surprised at the power […]

A Special Calling in History [1] In 1998, in a series essay on the 21st century in Atlantic Monthly, Bill McKibben examines the population question and concludes as follows: The bottom-line argument goes like this: The next fifty years are a special time. They will decide how strong and healthy the planet will be for […]

[1] It was a year ago September during U.S. Senate hearings on embryonic stem cell research. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) took out a blank piece of paper, placed a pencil dot in the center of it, and held it up to Mary Tyler Moore. “This,” he declared, “is the size of the thing we’re talking […]