Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
Every Easter, we shout “Christ is risen!” to each other with great joy. Chances are, we have a pretty good idea of what we mean, even though we would have a difficult time putting it into words. Most attempts at theorizing sound like nonsense in the modern world. Where is the right hand of God […]
When I was a parish pastor, I felt a great challenge preaching the sermon on Easter Sunday. I realized that this might be the only time a large number worshipped all year. I also knew from experience that some of these were listening to hear if the church offered them any meaning and purpose. And […]
Holy Week and Easter highlight the importance of a Christian narrative. Christians around the world observe these sacred times by participating in a story that has changed lives for 2000 years. Of course, there will be attempts to explain what has happened and is happening by referring to theological doctrines. The Church has continually tried […]
Certainly a modern Christian narrative must include our relationship to the environment. Right now, the conversation addressing that issue in our society and the Church rages around the argument about humanity’s role in climate change. Like so much in our current culture, decisions about actions are presumed to be based on scientific findings rather than […]
It’s fine to speak of Christianity being unconditional love all the way down. It’s exhilarating to read St. Isaac of Syria write of even Hell being filled with God’s love. However, it is frustrating when various Christian groups totally disagree on what comprises loving actions in real life and death situations. And it is downright […]
I always thought of myself as a member of the “theology of the cross” school. Paul and Kerry, through brief exchanges on this site, have helped me see the limitations of this tradition, how it has led too many people to put themselves down as contemptible sinners unworthy of God’s grace. At least in our […]
I had originally decided to use Dr. King’s sermon in order to take a three week vacation break and was thoroughly unprepared when so many people sent me probing responses. They seemed to indicate a desire for conversation about how Christian love applies in our modern situation, as every one brought up specific problems, particularly […]
I have been receiving so many thoughtful responses to Dr. King’s sermon that I decided to address them in the lesson next week. However, I thought it would be helpful to present his conclusion before doing that. Everyone of the responses acknowledged Jesus called on individuals to return good for evil. Almost all questioned how […]
I’d like to continue citing Martin Luther King’s sermon, “Love Your Enemies,” because it describes forgiveness as an inherent characteristic of the Christian love narrative. Whenever I hear the most powerful man in the world claim to love everybody and in the next breath brag he can not think of anything he has done for […]
Throughout my ministry, I have repeatedly reread two works in addition to the scriptures: Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov and Martin Luther King’s “Loving Your Enemies.“ Both express the love narrative I think the Church desperately needs to use in understanding and identifying herself. The latter is a sermon Dr. King wrote while jailed for committing nonviolent civil […]
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