Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
I think the comment John posted last week captures the gist of Jesus’ words concerning the Sabbath. He wrote, “The wealth we experience is embarrassing. Yet we always want more and find excuses not to give it away or find some reason why our less fortunate are not worthy. We must pray for strength and […]
If you had any doubts about the Sabbath commands being more than setting aside a special day for worship, take a look at how the commandment is explicated in other parts of the Torah. Exodus 23: 10-12 expands it to include the land, wild beasts, and the poor. “For six years you shall sow your […]
Our project is seeking ways to observe the Sabbath Way of life in our technological society. Let’s begin by looking at the two versions found in the Ten Commandments. Respected scholars claim we should regard these as teachings or guidelines rather than as laws. Exodus 20: 8-11: “Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. […]
I have attended many, many academic talks. An Anglican bishop at a Muhlenberg college commencement gave the best I’ve heard. He argued observing the Sabbath as a way of life enabled Christians to live with integrity in our technological society. In fact, he went on to suggest the Sabbath was the key to healing our […]
One of the biggest dilemmas in our time is deciding what we should be doing. Science shows us what is going on, but not what should be changed. The present gridlock in government only reflects how much our society cannot move beyond the status quo. Sometimes we justify our inactivity by claiming our actions would […]
After looking at the creation stories where Nature is declared “good,” then Visions of Hope where redemption includes the restoration of the proper relationship between God, humans, and Nature, and Torah Law that describes how we should be treating Nature; it becomes pretty clear we are a part of Nature. We often think this is […]
It is not only the ancient Torah Law that teaches us to respect Nature. Biblical visions of hope picture God, humans, and Nature in perfect harmony when God redeems his creation. If that is the way things will be, then we should be acting to help bring this about here and now. The first of […]
I have been surprised that so many responses to this series on Nature refer emotionally to climate change. They argue either that we are not following the data or that we do not have any conclusive data presently. None of our readers who contacted me argued we can go on raping Nature any way we […]
Let’s look further at what the Bible says about nature, beginning with the creation stories. Most people have been so confused by the absurd Fundamentalist controversies that they are not even aware there are more than one. The longer and most complete ones are Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Genesis 2:4b-3:24 , Psalm 104, and Job 38-41, but […]
Most of us act as if there is some kind of natural reason, even if we are not conscious of what we are doing. We find ourselves declaring, “Everyone knows…” , assuming what makes sense to us makes sense to everyone else. We sense there must be a natural law ingrained in nature. Some Roman […]
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