Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
About ten weeks ago, I started using a theology of the cross in an attempt to understand the deep divisions in our church and society. I consistently found myself examining two different kinds of Christianity whose characteristics could surprisingly also be applied to the divisions in society. One group described our relationship, whether with God […]
Early in my ministry, the Lutheran Church asked me to investigate the growing Pentecostal movement. With very little effort, I found myself quickly making friends and participating in groups at every level. When I shared my final report, many of them appreciated everything but one aside I made near the end. In it, I expressed […]
Many theologians maintained it was impossible to have faith in God after the Nazi genocide of six million Jews. How could God allow the German nation to slaughter his chosen people? Ivan, in The Brothers Karamazov, claims you don’t have to go that far. The abuse and murder of just one innocent baby speaks against […]
Two flawed pictures of the crucifixion are blunting the church’s message in our time. The first presents Jesus as a sacrifice enabling humanity to escape a fallen creation. Anyone who is willing to believe this and accept the deal escapes the last judgment and is taken to live with God in Heaven as the evil […]
When I graduated from seminary, the question was whether there was a place for religion in the new age of science. We thought we were entering a period when we could make all of our decisions based on facts, not superstition. Some of my friends were working on getting computers to speak with one another. […]
Our modern technological society has a problem with the future. All it has to offer is more and better technology that supposedly will enable us to do whatever we desire. That usually is attached to having more wealth. The goal is prosperity and the assumption is once you have enough, you will begin to use […]
The other day my wife and I were on our daily walk on the college campus when a man without a mask approached us. He stuck out because wearing one is compulsory in that area. As he passed, he said quite emphatically, “God protects ME.” He apparently felt he was making a witness for Christ. […]
A late friend who was a world class theologian used to insist that relevance is not a theological category. He had studied under Karl Barth and believed theology begins and ends with the Word of God, not the human situation. I would argue theology is useless unless I can relate it to my everyday life. […]
The pandemic has brought clarity to the current situation in Christianity. As it rages on, it has become apparent there are two incompatible camps not necessarily identified with denominational boundaries. One of these consistently speaks of fighting a battle against evil and clearly regards the other camp as the opposition. The anger and threats being […]
I started this series because everything I was writing at the time only made sense in the context of the pandemic. Any consideration of a theological or ethical proposal ended up being tested by how it worked in the present situation. I decided I might as well turn it around by examining the new problem […]
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