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Up one levelThe Loss of Militant Language as the Loss of Biblical Narrative
"No more war, but what have we gained?" It’s not a question I would have thought much about 25 years ago. That was the era after Vietnam, when flags were not welcome in the chancel, “Stand up, stand up for Jesus” had lost its place at the top of hymn lists, and one began to think twice about singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. A socio-ecclesial shift was taking place to reframe the Christian narrative and message without reference to warfare.
Whose Moral Authority Do We Fear?
It bears saying that moral outrage can be expressed on any side of a particular issue. Abraham Lincoln was exercising moral leadership when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation and gave the Gettysburg Address, and he was assassinated because of the moral outrage of those who held opposing views...
Rite Vocatus
If you asked, I would say that I am a confessional pastor, but I admit to taking the Confessions for granted most of the time. I would do well to spend an hour with the Bible and an hour with the Confessions daily, as Luther encouraged students and pastors to do, but program planning, meetings, visits, and the usual parish schedule impinge upon me (I say this by way of description, not excuse.) and the Confessions gather dust...
On modern Ireland and the pomo church
Granted, it was southern Ireland where I spent vacation this past summer— a bastion of Roman Catholic faith, much like southern Germany. “If it’s a church, it’s a Catholic church,” our bed and breakfast hosts said. Not entirely true—there were the occasional Church of Ireland congregations, too. But in spite of the Catholic/Protestant distinction among the Irish, the culture of the land we visited was unabashedly Christian...