Items included on this page come from a variety of sources. The perspectives conveyed may or may not express a Lutheran ethos. They can serve our instruction as discussion-starters, examples (positive and negative), and illustrations of intersections between God’s two kingdoms, intersections sometimes characterized by tension, sometimes by congruence. Inclusion does not imply endorsement.
How do we understand suffering through a theology of the cross? This question allows for an open dialogue with the subject allowing for a fuller exploration of the topic at hand. The question that most people are really asking is how to understand suffering. The answer to this question can only rightly be understood through […]
Asking Agonizing Questions at the End of Life: Now that California has joined other states with an “end-of-life option” law, palliative-care physicians are trying to come to terms with what it means for them and their patients. It’s not just a question of whether they support physician-assisted suicide or personally would ever help end a life. Doctors […]
In “The Reading Cure,” Gabe Haley asks, “How can a seven-hundred-year-old poem have such a profound effect on a twenty-first-century reader?” Dante’s Divine Comedy is, among other things, a work of speculative fiction. Because Dante’s vision of the future is of the afterlife, its present conditions have the potential to encompass times outside of Dante’s […]
This human interest piece from The Daily Beast discusses a distressing case of child illness and likely death. Students will find interesting the case itself and the ethical issues–but also the writer’s characterization of religion, “heaven” put in quotation marks, and assertions about what is certain and what is not. Hebr. 11:1-3 comes to mind. […]
Ben Zobrist is now the utility man who plays second base for the Kansas City Royals. The night before he first left home to join the Astros’ affiliate in Troy, N.Y., he told his father, “I’m going to be a missionary in the big leagues.” And so he has been, whether by organizing Bible studies with […]
This article on “Life After Death” considers whether it is ethical to use vaccines that save millions of lives but are derived from the tissue of aborted children. Some pro-life advocates “have a deep aversion” to using vaccines that may contain “the remains of an aborted child,” says Debi Vinnedge, founder of Children of God for […]
This LA Times article, “Gov. Brown signs controversial assisted-suicide bill,” covers the news item itself with several quotes and views on the event. Students and courses interested in the topic can begin here and move to other sources and analyses. The California law will permit physicians to provide lethal prescriptions to mentally competent adults who […]
In his article, “Sporting Transcendence,” Richard Mouw explores the themes in athletics of competition, transcendence, felllowship, and community. This brief essay may serve to induct students into the multifaceted experiences of human nature for players, teams, observers, fans, and the larger culture. Mouw also links to an article by Martin Siegel in America titled, “Good Sports: Getting Closer […]
This New York Times article is 7000 words on Kim Suozzi who died at age 23 but chose to have her brain preserved with the dream that neuroscience might one day revive her mind. This account of the technology of the trans-human suggests several theological implications not addressed by the writer. Students may find helpful the […]
An oncologist addresses the patient’s questions about God, medical care, and caregivers, asking, “If they balk at the mere mention of God, do doctors miss an opportunity to comfort patients in their most trying times?” Students can consider the pros and cons of heath care workers including or excluding matters of faith in their care […]
