Issue: October/November 2026: The Ethics of Incarceration

[1] For this issue of JLE, papers were invited to discuss the ethical issues involved with the U.S. criminal justice system’s current use of incarceration and the ethics involved in detention centers for immigrants. [2] The current issue publishes four papers on the topic using four different methods of ethical inquiry. The result is that […]

  [1] This issue of JLE uses four different methods to explore the ethics of punishment and incarceration. In order to encourage discussion about the issue, we have picked a quote from each essay that highlights the method used. Each quote is followed by discussion questions that a small group might engage. [2] Method One: […]

A version of this paper was presented as a lectio praecursoria, an opening lecture before the defense of Dr. Leinonen’s dissertation Martin Luther and the Theology of Moses: Examining the Lectures and Sermons on Deuteronomy on December 18, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/604312   Introduction [1] The year 1525 was a busy one for Martin Luther and the […]

Introduction [1] Throwing criminals in prison is not working: the prisons are overcrowded, they are financially draining–profiting only the very wealthy–and, most importantly, prisoners are not rehabilitated to deal with society when they leave—recidivism rates are high.[1] The current retributive system places emphasis on anonymity (intentionally or unintentionally): keeping separate the offender and the victim […]

  [1] Through prison ministry, I have come to understand incarceration not merely as a legal issue but as a ministry that challenges me to practice accompaniment, advocate for justice, and recognize the image of God in people whom society often defines by their offenses. [2] When I was growing up, I was not told […]

[1] As the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has grown in scope and power since its inception in 2003, so has criticism of their brutal tactics and human rights abuses. In particular, this essay discusses the abuses involved in detention centers. These human rights abuses include allegations of unsafe conditions, overcrowding, racial abuse, and negligent […]

Join Rev. Matthew Best as he talks with Pat LaMarche, homelessness advocate and former Vice Presidential candidate, about the ethics of homelessness, the impact of the Grants Pass decision and legislation criminalizing homelessness, and what individuals and congregations can do to make an impact.  They also discuss the Memorial Blanket Project and the ELCA Social […]

[1] In this edition of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics we will consider three reviews covering philosophy, ELCA social teaching, and Christian Nationalism. [2] Charles Duke reviewed Jon Stewart’s fascinating comprehensive examination of 19th century nihilism. Duke’s working definition of nihilism—the view that nothing, including human existence, possesses ultimate meaning or significance—remonstrates the useful reappraisal […]

[1] If God does not exist, is human existence bereft of ultimate meaning and significance? If immortality is impossible, if there is no afterlife, what explains fear of death or being posthumously forgotten by the world? Are ethical norms and values simply groundless and pragmatic conventions? These represent some of the perennial problems associated with […]

[1] Four years after its inception, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued its first teaching document, The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective at its second Churchwide Assembly in 1991.[1] This statement, which passed by a more than two-thirds majority, signified that the newly constituted ELCA would “commit itself to serve God and neighbor […]

[1] The theological roots of Christian Nationalism can be found in the dominionist theology of Calvinist Rousas John Rushdoony. Considered the father of Christian Reconstructionism, Rushdoony, in the Institutes of Biblical Law, championed biblical covenantal mandates as the basis for theonomy, and promoted the submission of all aspects of society to “Christian values.” Rushdoony’s thought […]