A Case Study on the Governing Authorities and Systemic Sin — The Ferguson, MO, unrest has prompted a point/counterpoint exchange among two widely followed Christian sources. Franklin Graham has posted an obedience position on his FB blog, and Sojourners has responded with a perspective that says such matters are not that simple. Christianity Today offers […]
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.
Religion and Culture: Leading or Responding?
Religion and Culture: Leading or Responding? — In this interview, Mark A. Smith argues that religion in American politics is best understood as responding to changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them. Smith considers five contentious issues in America’s history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and women’s rights.
The Church’s Social Ministry Against Sex Trafficking
The Church’s Social Ministry Against Sex Trafficking — A brief article on the growing Christian student movement aimed at exposing and ending this current form of slavery: “An extraordinarily complex global issue has somehow become one of the most energetic Christian missions of the 21st century.”
American Values Atlas
American Values Atlas — The Public Religion Research Institute has launched the American Values Atlas, a new research tool that allows users to compare and analyze religious affiliation, demographic information, political information, and attitudes on key issues in the United States.
Religion’s Role in the History of Ideas
Religion’s Role in the History of Ideas — In this brief essay, Michael Roth considers the importance of acknowledging religious experience (Roth is president of Wesleyan University, operating out of that Methodist tradition), responding to texts that challenge assumptions, and weighing the importance of these in student thinking.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Harvill Secker, 2014) — “We control the world because we are the only animals that can cooperate flexibly in very large numbers. If you examine any large-scale human cooperation, you will always find that it is based on some fiction like the nation, like money, like human rights. […]
Beyond Pacifist and Just War Theology
Beyond Pacifist and Just War Theology — Ron Sider writes that the old debate between pacifists and Just War theorists need not be settled for both to join together in a massive, sustained testing of the possibilities of nonviolence. The theological/ethical commitments of both views demand that they invest seriously in sustained nonviolent peacemaking and, […]
What is the Future of “I”?
What is the Future of “I”? — From Kenneth Hayworth, Senior Research Scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, comes this 9 min. video on consciousness, identity, ethics, and being human. It may serve as a good example of current ideas in evolutionary psychology and can provoke much discussion for courses in neuroscience, religion and […]
Do the Religious Beliefs of the Supreme Court Justices Influence Their Decisions?
Do the Religious Beliefs of the Supreme Court Justices Influence Their Decisions? — For the first time in its history, the bench is composed of three Jews and six Catholics, including several devout Catholics. The editors of Moment interview a group of nine legal thinkers about the Justices’ religious predispositions.
The Christ and Pop Culture Website
The Christ and Pop Culture Website — Here is a fellowship of (mostly) young Christians keeping an eye on the intersections and misses of Christ and popular culture: “CaPC is an online magazine that addresses important issues and topics in popular culture” whose mission is “to edify the Church, glorify God, and witness to the […]
