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Editor's Comments |
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The Advent of Justice
by Victor Thasiah
During the Advent season the Christian community approaches its celebration of God with us — the feast of Christmas — by reflecting on and preparing for the "second coming" of Christ the Judge. How do we get ready to face Christ the Judge? Assuming that Christ bases his judgment on what he deems just, one way to prepare would be to consider what he thinks justice is. |
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Feature Articles |
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Conscience in the Theology of Martin Luther and Søren Kierkegaard
by Randall C. Zachman
Both Martin Luther and Søren Kierkegaard understand Christianity primarily in terms of its impact on and relationship to the conscience. In particular, Kierkegaard explicitly agrees with Luther that Christianity cannot be understood apart from the experience of the terrified and afflicted conscience. "What Luther says is excellent, the one thing needful and the sole explanation — that this whole doctrine (of the Atonement and in the main all Christianity) must be traced back to the struggle of the anguished conscience. |
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What Is a Conscience, Anyway?
by Derek R. Nelson
The great Louis Armstrong was reportedly asked once how he would define "jazz." His famous reply was, "Man, if you’ve gotta ask... you’ll never know." Some things seem intuitively clear to people who are familiar with them, and could never satisfactorily be described or defined by them. One wonders whether “conscience” might be just such an elusive notion. So many thinkers have attempted definitions and descriptions of conscience in the history of theology and philosophy that it comes to seem like a wax nose, obedient to the twisting and turning of those who use it. |
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The Institutional Dilemma of Principled Dissent
by Diane Yeager
In July 2010, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Convention passed a resolution calling for a "thorough response" to the ELCA social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust. In the justifying clauses of Resolution 3–05, the document asserts that the social statement "suggests a concept, namely the 'bound conscience,' as a 'distinctly Lutheran' principle of theology." It also asserts that "the ELCA's concept of 'bound conscience' encourages erosion of Christian moral teaching and guidance." |
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Response to John Stumme on Conscience
by Thomas Pearson
John R. Stumme is right: with "bound conscience" the ELCA has bought an unfocused concept with an undefined purpose and an unspecified scope of application, whose usefulness is uncertain and whose consequences are unknown, perhaps because its biblical origins are unstated. Stumme has focused on the lack of a biblical foundation for "bound conscience" as proposed in our recent statements on sexuality; just as important, I feel, is the absence of an adequate ground in the theological tradition of western Christianity and its Lutheran expression for the manner in which the ELCA has manufactured this concept.
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Book Review |
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Gary Dorrien’s Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition
by Charles Maynard
Much of the history of Christianity has been concerned with the individual’s relation to Jesus Christ and the behavior that such a relationship demands in our day-to-day living. The so-called "law of love" has focused on how individuals relate to God and one another and less on human groups and organizations and how their inherent structures often inhibit behavior motivated by principles of love and justice.
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Preaching on Social Issues |
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Blessed are the Undocumented? A Reflection on Matthew 5:1-12
by Brian A.F. Beckstrom
When preaching on the Beatitudes it’s easy to default to two common interpretations. The first is to individualize the statements, making them into a scheme for securing God’s blessing. Such an approach assumes that if we adhere to the qualities outlined by Jesus, God will be more apt to bless and love us. |
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Incarnation and the Holy Innocents
by Rachel Wangen-Hoch
Most preachers do not preach the Sunday following Christmas, and I sympathize. We are tired, have just finished Advent and Christmas and are looking forward to a Sunday off with our families or friends, perhaps a congregational carol sing with scripture readings of the gentler parts of the story of incarnation. |