Geography, Business, Shipping, and the Gospel — Merchants of various sorts—all dependent on shipping and paved roads—played a vital role in the early church, and Paul and the other apostles were quick to use this network. This brief article offers background and insight on the left-hand kingdom means by which the Holy Spirit moved the […]
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.
Challenging Radical Islam
Challenging Radical Islam — Some condemn ISIS and Boko Haram but insist that their acts have nothing to do with true Islam. Others opine that ISIS and Boko Haram do represent Islam’s true face. In this article, John Azumah says that neither perspective is helpful. Both distort the nature of Islam and its relation to […]
How Singles Can Contribute to a Marriage Culture
How Singles Can Contribute to a Marriage Culture — This 6 min. video from the Southern Baptists’ Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission offers students a perspective on singleness as a vocation that helps sustain marriage as a cultural and a religious institution. The speaker, Jennifer Marshall, is the author of Now and Not Yet: Making […]
The Church Worker Housing Allowance
The Church Worker Housing Allowance — Lutheran pastor Dave Albertson revisits perennial questions about this tax benefit in his article, “How Rich Pastors are Getting Richer (While Poor Pastors Stay Poor),” following the recent U.S. Court of Appeals case that upheld this tax provision.
Can Wheaton Require ROTC be Run by Christians?
Can Wheaton Require ROTC be Run By Christians? — The Army is conducting a nationwide review of policies at the 275 colleges that host ROTC programs, including Wheaton College, which came under fire in recent weeks from a military watchdog group that noticed the Army’s listing for a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps position at the […]
Four Challenges for Christians on Assisted Suicide
Four Challenges for Christians on Assisted Suicide — “Those who try to win an ethical argument that it is morally wrong for terminally ill patients to take their own lives are on their way to losing that argument. But those who are ready to articulate a better way have a real chance in changing the […]
Word & World: Fall 2014 on War
Word & World — The Fall 2014 issue examines the theme of war, covering such topics as the just war theory, Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress,” the role and plight of the combat soldier, and the Bonhoeffer case.
Art and Craft: Free Will, Sin, Biochemistry, Art Forgery, Psychopathology, and Jurisprudence
Art and Craft: Free Will, Sin, Biochemistry, Art Forgery, Psychopathology, and Jurisprudence — Very hard to categorize, this remarkable case involves a bipolar forger who gives away his work under false but not criminal pretenses. Students may find this a fascinating cross-discipline case study involving theology, biology, psychology, criminology, and assorted other -ologies.
The Link Between Religious Freedom and National Security
The Link Between Religious Freedom and National Security — An interview with Thomas F. Farr, Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and former diplomat, and his concern about a lack of interest in religious liberty in the State Dept. and why it matters.
A Secular Age 2.0
A Secular Age 2.0 — “Back in the ’70s, even while a lingering, residual religion still pervaded the atmosphere, the smart set was discovering that religion was a sham. But those were the ’70s, more specifically, the 1870s.” Matt Milliner at Wheaton reviews Minding the Modern: Human Agency, Intellectual Traditions, and Responsible Knowledge by Thomas […]
