A Devotion On Against Natural Theology
Just because something happens in Church history, gains some sort of consensus of the so-called faithful, this does not (or should not) lead to the notion that God caused whatever happened to happen; whether it be related to some form and development of church government, some doctrinal development, so on and so forth. As Protestant Christians, we OUGHT to repudiate these types of natural theologies; the types where it is asserted a priori that the way the consensus decided just is the will of God for the Church’s edification. It may or may not be, that’s why we are to…
Human Rights and Climate Change
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), written to address the atrocities committed during World War II. Since then, the United Nations and other bodies have adopted additional documents on human rights. The International Bill of Human Rights includes the UDHR, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Not included in the UDHR is any statement related to climate change – it wasn’t a known concern in the 1940s. However, in the years since, the United Nations has published additional documents…
The Gospel of Truth Confronting Our ‘Happily Sick’ Selves
The Gospel is a Gospel of offense. Christ in the assumptio carnis doesn’t only explain God to us from within Himself and the triune life (Jn 1.18), but He explains who we are as fallen human beings vis-à-vis the holiness and person of the living God. The Gospel doesn’t allow us to remain comfortable with our sins; the Gospel doesn’t allow us to find companionship with our evil, dark and depraved hearts. The Gospel is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life; as such, it puts us in our place. For the natural [hu]man this causes squirming, it challenges our…
Top 10 List of Accommodations
A lot of the questions we get from individuals and congregations are about cost-friendly resources, or being asked where a ministry can start with improving their accessibility beyond physical structure. So when members of the Disability Ministries advisory team met last month, we put together a “Top 10 list” of sorts that offers ideas, resources, and our thoughts on accommodations that can give a place to start. This is not an all-encompassing list by any means, but we hope it can give you some ideas, many of which are low cost, on where you can begin the holy work of…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For peace among nations, especially among Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine… For resolution and reconciliation in all areas of…
John Calvin Juxtaposed with Theodore Beza on a Doctrine of Assurance of Salvation
Calvinism is not a monolithic reality (thus this blog), historically, often times I find, when interacting with classic Calvinists, that there is the pervasive belief that “their” tradition is pure gospel without development. I think the following, at least, illustrates that this is too reductionistic, and in fact there is significant disagreement between someone like John Calvin (Evangelical Calvinist par excellence) and Theodore Beza (classic Calvinist the fountain-head), on the ordo salutis and the decrees. In Richard Muller’s book: Christ and the Decree: Christology and Predestination in Reformed Theology From Calvin to Perkins, he is discussing Theodore Beza’s articulation of Christ and the decrees relative…
November/December Update: Advocacy Connections
from the ELCA advocacy office in Washington, D.C. – the Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Senior Director Partial expanded content from Advocacy Connections: November/December 2023 IN TIME OF WAR | FARM BILL EXTENSION | CLIMATE-SMART FARMING FUNDING | GENDER JUSTICE | NOTEWORTHY LEGISLATIVE BREAKTHROUGHS IN TIME OF WAR: As weeks extend in the temporarily paused Isael-Hamas war, faith leaders continue to urge peace. Signed by the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, ELCA presiding bishop, several ELCA synod bishops and others through Churches for Middle East Peace, a Nov. 29 letter to President Biden says, “We condemn all acts of violence against civilians…
ELCA Presence in Far-Reaching Efforts of COP28
When you hear of the UN Conference of Parties (COP28) meeting in Dubai Nov. 30-Dec. 12, 2024, a faith voice from the ELCA is there in what may seem like far-away yet far-reaching efforts. Six representatives are attending either in-person or virtually to contribute to the dialogue with world leaders as they debate strategies and ambitions to effectively tackle the climate crisis. The ELCA’s recent social message “Earth’s Climate Crisis” reads: “This social message is rooted in our duty to be responsible caretakers of God’s creation. It is motivated by that responsibility and by hope. Though the climate has always…
The Seed of the Classical Theistic God Given Blossom in the god of Modern Atheism
I have been an oft critic of the ‘classical theistic’ god. The classical theistic God is typically known by actus purus, ‘pure being.’ I have argued that this conception of Godness as Monad comes to us from the ancient Greek philosophers, and not from God’s Self-revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ. Some would say that my argument is modern, but that would simply be the chronological snobbery fallacy. Truth has no provenance; that is, truth is truth no matter where or whence it comes. Bruce McCormack describes this sort of critique this way (here his comments are in the context of his treatment on Eberhard Jüngel’s explication…
Get your krewe together! 🎉
Where y’at? This standard New Orleans greeting means simply “How are you?” or “What’s going on?” So don’t say where you are. Just say you’re doing all right! Our team is gearing up for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering, the Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE), the tAble and the new Young Adult Gathering next summer. The Gathering and Young Adult Gathering will take place in New Orleans July 16-20, and our pre-events will take place July 13-16. We have over 12,000 young people and their adult leaders registered for this life-changing faith formation event, coming from over 1,200 congregations! We’ve…