Items included for this subject area 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.
Reformation Laity: a 50 min. video presentation that summarizes Luther’s views on the priesthood of all believers or those Luther referred to as “baptized priests.” This lively talk serves as a good overview of the key themes with attention to the context of the Reformation and the issues both then and now.
Free Exercise, Penance, and Delaware Court: The State of Delaware sought civil penalties against both a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation and the individual elders in an abuse case. The defendants sought summary judgment against the charges on religious freedom and priest-penitent “privilege” grounds. A Delaware Superior Court judge denied the motion. The decision is an illustration of what happens […]
Two Articles from Foreign Policy on Outreach to China Through Education: The magazine offers two very detailed stories of how Chinese students are flooding into U.S. Christian secondary schools with the knowledge and blessing of their atheist parents, and how Chinese studying in American universities have become a fruitful mission field for American Christian campus groups. Chinese […]
U.S. Churches Offer Safe Haven For A New Generation Of Immigrants: Echoing an earlier civil disobedience campaign in the 1980s, U.S. churches are again defying federal immigration authorities. Across the country, a handful of congregations are opening their doors to offer safe haven to Central American immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and are under deportation […]
Point / Counterpoint: What It Means to be a “College of the Church”: Robert Benne and Tom Christensen engage in a conversation about Lutheran higher education, exploring a variety of topics including the quality of a Christian faculty, their vocation, the liberal arts, and being defined by a discipline or defined by the Gospel.
What (Who?) is a University? What does it mean to say this, that the faculty of a university are the university, and therefore not employees of it? John Henry Newman suggested an answer to this question in The Idea of a University. On his understanding, the institutional structure of the modern university, and its oversight by […]
How to Make Liberal Democracy Safe for Religion: J. Judd Owen’s Making Religion Safe for Democracy challenges both secular and religious thinkers. As Owen argues, the ascendant form of philosophical liberalism, with its tenuous claims to be a space without any religious commitments, is “not well equipped to confront a world of resurgent religion, particularly […]
Suit Challenges High School History Unit On Islam: The parents of a high schooler filed suit in a Maryland federal district court this week alleging that a two-week unit on Islam in the La Plata High School 11th grade World History class unconstitutionally promoted Islam over Christianity and Judaism. This case is one among other challenges […]
Along the Edges of Faith: The Many Sectors of American Chaplains: Despite the formal separation of church and state in the United States, congressional and military chaplains are paid with public funds, as are prison chaplains. This article reviews a new documentary called “Chaplains: On the Front Lines of Faith” and discusses the perception and roles of the […]
The ADF has prepared a free 44 page guide that “any church or Christian organization can follow to prepare itself for potential legal action related to non-discrimination laws” and recommends: update the organization’s statement of faith on the issues of marriage, human sexuality, and gender; ensure that the organization’s facilities usage policies allow only uses […]
