Has the World Devoured the Word in American Lutheranism? This assessment by Robert Benne, seasoned author and commentator in the Lutheran tradition, offers some observations about the Lutheran scene and our sustaining a presence in the world with rather than without God’s word.
Classical Conflict: Education profs and students may find this overview of the classical model in Christian schools and charter schools informative. Will classical public charter schools lure Christian parents away from schools that acknowledge Christ as the center of all things? “Just like classical Christian schools, the charters aim to teach students to embrace truth, goodness, […]
Court Returns Again to Death Penalty and Intellectually Disabled: For a course unit or sub-unit on the death penalty issues, this discussion of recent and current Supreme Court decisions can help students survey the issues and arguments. The justices will further consider the legal definition of the mentally disabled exclusion and, in particular, how up-to-date the […]
Answering the biggest question of all: why is there something rather than nothing? — Students can get a start on Liebniz’ question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” with this brief essay. The author summarizes the usual responses from theism to multiple universes while leaving the question open.
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 […]
Three features, three editorials, book reviews, and an inventory: In this edition, we look outside Lutheran teaching and consider the issues of the Christian’s involvement in public schools as a student, parent, teacher, or administrator. With our parochial history in mind, a reader might well ask, “So why is such a publication as this spending effort on public […]
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 […]
No Protestants on the Court: This essay considers whether and how the religious orientation of the Supreme Court justices may or may not influence the court’s use of the “compelling interest” test when adjudicating cases that involve religious liberty. Use of this and the other usual tests of “substantial burden” and “least restrictive” depend on […]
