Government (Civil)

[1] I cried for a time, thinking about the horrible deaths of all of the innocent people trapped in the World Trade Center, and of the rescuers who gave their own lives to save others. But as I cried I became increasingly angry, not only at the terrorists, but also at the root cause of […]

[1] The American law of self-defense, as a general rule, requires that a defender who kills show that she reasonably feared that she was in imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death. This rule embodies two important understandings consonant with Christian views of human nature and violence. One is implicit in the requirement that […]

[1] Tiefel asks three questions of us: What sort of language we should use when speaking of stem cells outside of science, what place does the religious voice have in the public arena in this matter, and how can we speak of the moral ambiguity which has been called to our attention. Three questions about […]

[1] In 1525, Assa von Kram, a professional military officer, asked Martin Luther a question that had been weighing on his conscience: if I want to be a good Christian, do I have to quit my job as a soldier? Assa had good reason to be concerned – didn’t Jesus, after all, say that his […]

[1] The subtitle to Professor Benne’s perceptive article poses the question whether America’s civil religion is “destructive, useless, or beneficial.” It can be all three. Civil religion is “destructive” when it becomes monolithic and intolerant of denominational and religious diversity. Civil religion is “useless” when it is reduced to a “ceremonial deism” that is bleached […]

This essay is slightly revised from a paper delivered at a meeting of the Faith and Order Commission, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, St. Louis, Missouri, October 11, 2002. [1] According to current statistics, there are over 65 million Lutherans in the world. Most of these (61.7 million) are members of […]