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.
A Vaughan Williams Elegy: “Cheerful agnosticism”? This review of a new book–Vaughan Williams: Composer, Patriot, Radical by Keith Alldritt (Robert Hale Ltd., 2016)–on the English composer (“For All the Saints;” editor of The English Hymnal) raises and considers the question of how Vaughn Williams, a declared agnostic, should have been able all through his life, to set to […]
Blind faith in DNA: “We should be wary of accepting bold claims by researchers until they have been thoroughly tested,” says this position piece on science in the news. Have we really found the essence of life, as Nobel laureate James Watson puts it, by studying its parts? The genetics narrative may not be as air-tight […]
The Atlantic dissects Jesus’ ‘wife’ story: The institutions in God’s left-hand kingdom are, as always, a blessing and curse. The emerging account of a 2012 news event about an ancient manuscript alluding to Jesus’ wife can help students think critically about news stories, scholarly claims, and asking the right (and sometimes obvious) questions.
To Serve God and Mammon: Hucksterism in the church dates back at least to Phineas and Hophni (1 Sam. 2). This review of The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream,by Chris Lehmann (Melville House, 2016) can serve as an intro to the sub-culture of American prosperity religion. Students can assess the […]
Did Richard Dawkins Hand Creationists (sic) Their Next School Strategy? This position piece re-examines Kitzmiller v. Dover, an important court case that involves issues and unresolved questions about jurisprudence, science, and religion. The case and article may serve as an intro for the larger topic or selected themes.
Faith in translation: The gospel as a second language — Students in writing, communication, language, and the letters can consider that a fast-growing number of people do not have a religious first language. And many churches don’t seem eager to learn how to connect with them—how to teach Christianity as a second language as well as […]
The Tech-Christian Apologoist Who Demolished Gawker: This column offers a profile of Pay-Pal billionaire Peter Thiel that students can assess for point-of-view, gay activism, money and power, and personal agendas. “In coverage of the Hulk Hogan business, Thiel’s Christianity has mostly been a bemused sidenote. But Thiel’s statements about faith illustrate the way that techno-utopianism […]
What happens when the military chaplain is shaken by war: One account of several chaplain cases of active duty under fire from Bosnia to Afghanistan to Iraq. The comments section is also instructive. The article prompts the usual issues and questions about suffering, the role of religion in the military, the endurance of faith, and […]
A Review of The High House (1998), The False House (2015), and Evenmere (2015): “These three books are wonderfully written fantasy, and Stoddard is nearly as good as C. S. Lewis at recapitulating aspects of the Christian myth. Stoddard’s trilogy does something new and nifty. It is an argument in fiction that narrative is at the […]
When Being Pro-Life Did Not Mean Being Conservative: Students can use this Q&A to consider the extent to which terms such as “liberal” and “conservative” are useful when assessing social views informed by religious heritage and theological traditions. The article explores a time when liberal Democrats opposed abortion with vigor, and conservative Republicans remained largely indifferent.
