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.
Faith and the Arts: A Fragile Friendship — Even as churches are more willing to engage the arts, artists who work at the highest levels of craft are engaging the church less readily. This may be because, broadly speaking, Christians continue to vote with their dollars for popular entertainment. This article is one within an […]
I and Thou and Ze? — “What are your preferred pronouns?” My students say such things out of sensitivity to others. In the instances I’ve observed, it’s not a case of narcissistic identity politics gone mad, as some media pundits would have it. But the “identify as” wording does reflect a pervasive unease. We’ve lost our bearings […]
The Murder Ballad of Abraham and Isaac: For another angle on the Gen. 22 account, Rabbi Daniel Landes says this about the sacrifice of Isaac: “If you want an image for it, it’s very simple. You drive your child to the Jerusalem bus station, you put him on the bus to the army base and you […]
Willa Cather’s Answer to Exile: Students might start their reading of Cather with this essay. For Cather, human life is an experience of exile and homesickness. We are all separated from our true homeland—from that place where we are entirely in our element. We live outside the gates of Paradise, at odds with God, our […]
The Wondrous Mystery in Song: the capacity of music is to be both emotionally engaging and intellectually compelling, and thus a suitable and versatile vessel for expressing the realities revealed in the Nativity of our Lord. The musical vocabulary of carols has an organic connection with much earlier music; the musical imagination of composers such as […]
The Surprising Theological Possibilities of Virtual Reality: “What has Silicon Valley to do with Jerusalem?” Why should Christians care about this new wave of technology, and what are we to think of it? How do Christians, who are both consumers and creators of culture, react to this new medium?
The Great Good Thing: Andrew Klavan’s testimony — Among several interesting conversion testimonies in the past few years is a new book by a secular Jew, now baptized. This review provides access to and background on the book and the author’s story. Students may find it helpful in their generation of secular rationalism and its alternatives.
Create Freely: The ADF legal society has published this guide for artists, musicians, designers, artisans, and other creative professionals who seek guidance on managing the current tension between religious liberty and some forms of civil rights activism. See its p. 22 for “Five Practical Steps” every creative artist can take to protect themselves.
Harry Potter, Holy Writ: This article discusses an experiment with treating popular books as sacred texts in order to explore how authoritative writings are interpreted and regarded. Could suggest a writing or reading project for classes in literature, anthropology, exegetics, or sociology.
The Sentimentality Trap: The writer, especially the Christian, is today as obligated to avoid the sentimental anti-sentimentality of the edgy as he is to avoid puppies and Pollyanna. Sentimentality offers us the dubious chance to feel while bypassing the messiness of any real human engagement: not too much feeling but too thin an experience. Sentimentality is emotional […]
