Issue: December 2023/January 2024: Addressing the Sin of Child Abuse

[1] In December, Christians, especially those in the United States, tend to think a lot about children. Part of this is, of course, theological.  Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of God as an infant.  Fragile as any child, the maker of the stars was, at his birth, unable to support his own head.  […]

[1] This issue of JLE gives congregations an opportunity to host two kinds of adult education discussion.  The first, is to consider the possibility of non-violent parenting.  Reading Kathleen Gallagher Elkin’s essays on the Household Codes of Ephesians, participants might consider what it would mean to rethink the way we expect the use of force […]

[1] I recently had a conversation with my friend, Rachel, who is in the midst of parenting three small children. Her oldest son is especially rambunctious; at 7 years old, he is full of questions, ideas, feelings and most especially, energy! My friend loves her son and sees all his many gifts. He is a […]

Introduction: ELCA assembly resolution on child abuse [1] At the 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly held in Columbus, Ohio, the delegates approved the Memorials Committee’s recommendation that “the Church Council consider authorizing development of a social message on child abuse and protection.”[1] [2] In recommending this action, the ELCA Memorials Committee acknowledged “there has been no […]

Introduction [1] As the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America deliberates a possible social message on child abuse and child protection, it is vital to ground the commitment to protecting children in core teachings that make explicit the implications for child protection.[1] This article addresses six core theological and ethical themes—baptism, spiritual practices, ecclesiology, diakonia, mission, […]

[1] As we enter the Christmas season, Diane Yeager reviews The Magi: Who They Were, How They’ve Been Remembered, and Why They Still Fascinate by Eric Vanden Eykel.  From the history of biblical interpretation to contemporary literature to the covers of Christmas cards, the Magi capture our imagination. Yeager’s review explores Vanden Eykel’s scholarship and concludes […]

[1] Science and technology writer Sally Adee has written a book that provides a summary of the research demonstrating that electric currents run throughout bodies, even in the mind, and every living thing (the field of bioelectricity).  This is a valuable volume for Christian ethicists and for any Christian thinker interested in what theology can […]

[1] The Magi is a hybrid book by teacher/scholar Eric Vanden Eykel that seems designed to engage scholarly literature sufficiently to establish his reliability as a biblical scholar while also offering an analysis that will be both accessible to and engaging for college students and laypeople.  His project is essentially one of “high popularization”—a commitment to […]