Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
Last week I tried to make the case for faith, hope, and love being a very careful choice for summarizing the Christian life. I’d like to take a few weeks to examine the features that make the triad so important. First, the three proclaim how Christians handle the very basic human activity of relating the […]
For two thousand years theologians have used the words “faith, hope, and love” to summarize the Christian message. It all began with Paul who said in Colossians 1: 4-6 that the triad is the “Gospel” and the “Word of Truth”. Although most theologians claim the three are essential for a healthy life and for correcting […]
Juan made the perfect transition by citing St. Francis’ prayer, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace”. We have been trained to (mis?)read Christianity primarily as a preparation for an afterlife. In order to appreciate fully God’s love we should be placing more emphasis on participating in the history of salvation here and now. […]
Lupe suggested we have to redefine sin in our time. That is at the back of many of the youth’s discussions. They charge the adult world of ignoring or denying what is going on and so failing to provide ethical insight. A good example is war and peace. The adult society acts as if we […]
As I reported last week the Young Adult Reading Group discussed sin for several months. Each meeting they shared their ideas about a topic or two, such as lying on a resume and euthanasia. At the end of the sessions, they wanted to discuss ways for handling sin. My background paper follows. You can check […]
David Brooks recently reported on polls that show young people do not have the tools to think or act ethically. He seemed surprised when these surveys reported young people react to moral problems according to whether an option makes them feel good or not. . My response to Brook’s article was “Where have you been?” […]
Every four years I suggest we discuss an article, “Over the Edge” that Sports Illustrated published in 1997. It contains two questions Bob Goldman asked Olympic-level U.S. athletes every two years since 1982.The first was “If you were offered a banned performance-enhancing substance with two guarantees: 1) You will not be caught. 2) You will […]
When the young woman asked the question as a topic for the next meeting, I did not know what she meant. But the group expressed their approval, so I unraveled it before writing the paper that follows. You can read about their discussion in the first comment. Is Pat Tillman Saved? Anna asked a very […]
As soon as one of the youth said she would like to look at passages in the Bible that are hard to believe, I began to worry. Was this a way to challenge my interpretation? Would they take my views home to their disapproving parents? I was afraid they wanted the black and white positions […]
It is well worth reading John and Bob’s online comments as well as Campbell and Putnam’s research. My son and I came up with the same expectations several years ago when researching how Fundamentalism is a natural danger in a technological society. Too many people in our time think Fundamentalism is about reading the […]
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