Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
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 […]
I don’t seem to hear preachers or politicians talk about a seven-day creation of the universe in recent years. Instead, fundamentalists have turned to evolution. They insist the Genesis picture demands God creates fully-developed species, clearly separated from one another. Of course, they use much more emotionally laden language, such as, “I refuse to believe […]
Some think the vastness and seemingly indifference of the universe challenges Christian teachings about God’s concern for humanity and our infinitesimally tiny earth. They accuse us of imposing the meaning we want on the totally materialistic world. In fact, they often claim God’s Word is the voice of those in power. We’ve all heard tales […]
It’s helpful to remind ourselves that Nature can be defined from different perspectives (e.g. as universe, world, or creation). We can talk of the universe, my world, and God’s creation. Each use different language types. The scientific speaks of vast stars and galaxies, the poetic of a beautiful starry night, and the theological of the […]
Probably the greatest challenge to Christianity in our day is people’s absorption in their jobs, their play, and anything else that allows them to ignore meaningful conversation and profound thought. Close behind is the churches’ inadequacy in addressing troubling questions about the suffering of innocents and our relationship to nature. I’ll try to deal with […]
The biggest and most significant response to this series has been Christians who report they felt excluded every time a pastor described the Church as a “family of families.” On the other hand, I also heard from pastors, who like me, realized the limitations of the description but could not come up with anything better. […]
In the last lesson, I suggested conversing over fine food and drink might be the best way to promote friendship in our day. In this one, I’d like to support the thought by showing how important this is for Christianity. Meals played a major role in the Old Testament. There was Abraham and Sarah offering […]
So how can we promote the important elements of traditional friendship? We obviously cannot force people to enlarge their circle of friends by preaching at them. Robert Putnam, famous for his book Bowling Alone, felt the answer was to develop new forms of volunteer organizations that would pull people away from their televisions and out […]
The model for friendship is found in John 15: 12-17, right in the middle of Jesus’ words about love. He claims we are now friends, because he has shared all he knows with us. He then goes to say the epitome of love is someone who gives his life for his friend. Jesus recognizes sharing […]
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