So forgiveness pre-requires understanding the mistakes of the past? here hear re this opposing this me-first, America-first, white-first, male-first approach>…
Weekly lessons in theology and public life • Since 2011
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Lesson 10: Early Christian Meals
Read MORE: Lesson 10: Early Christian MealsIn 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.…
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Lesson 1: Changes in Friendship
Read MORE: Lesson 1: Changes in FriendshipWhen I was growing up in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, people spoke of “family and friends.” I had all sorts of “family” throughout the small city. When we would gather for annual reunions, we would be joined by some of the few…
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Lesson 2: Professional Friends
Read MORE: Lesson 2: Professional FriendsLast summer, I participated in a conversation that illustrates the current situation of friendship. A man sat down beside me and revealed he worked at the Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas. When I asked what he did, he hesitated. “It…
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Lesson 3: Facebook Friends
Read MORE: Lesson 3: Facebook FriendsSupposedly, I have 48 Facebook friends. I can easily pick up more by accepting the invitations that daily arrive on my e-mail, often from people I have a hard time identifying. And, of course, I can unfriend any of the…
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Lesson 4: Legal Friendship
Read MORE: Lesson 4: Legal FriendshipMarriage is fast becoming another new form of friendship. It is quite common to hear someone speak of their spouse as their best friend, something that would have sounded quite strange when I was growing up. But today, our society…
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Lesson 5: Christian Friendship
Read MORE: Lesson 5: Christian FriendshipWhenever I spoke of the Church as a “family of families,” I heard from singles, couples without children, and same sex couples. They all said such language made them feel excluded. I understood what they meant, but could never come…
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Lesson 6: Sharing
Read MORE: Lesson 6: SharingWhen I at first asked my face-to-face discussion groups to define friendship, I got the answers I expected. They seemed to say the same things as early Christian writers. For instance, they echoed what Ambrose wrote in 340 AD: “Friends…
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Lesson 7: Way to Wisdom and God
Read MORE: Lesson 7: Way to Wisdom and GodIf asked to define friendship, most people say something about sharing. Few would include anything about friendship being a way to knowledge. We think of friends working or playing together, but seldom sharing ideas in order to educate themselves. Yet,…
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Lesson 8: Self Denial
Read MORE: Lesson 8: Self DenialThe 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…
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Lesson 9: Promoting Friendship
Read MORE: Lesson 9: Promoting FriendshipSo 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…
Recent Comments
An extremely timely topic. Thanks, Fritz!
yes we need to forgive our leaders yet make sure they do the right thing – which they aren’t.