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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Gandhi Letter to Hitler
Read MORE: Gandhi Letter to HitlerA friend sent this letter Gandhi sent Hitler at Christmas in 1940. I think it is worth contemplating with an open and honest heart. It reminds me of an article my son and I read in Foreign Affairs while writing…
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Lesson 1: The Question of God’s Presence
Read MORE: Lesson 1: The Question of God’s PresenceAs I have previously confessed, these online lessons have addressed my own questions. Finding myself recently echoing the psalmists’ pleas for God to speak up and reveal himself in our present brutal society, I decided to do a series on…
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Lesson 2: Presence as Promise
Read MORE: Lesson 2: Presence as PromiseThis series has not gone as I expected. My original plan was to critique as many theories about God’s presence in this world as I could find. I was thinking of word and sacrament, grain of the universe, Body of…
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Lesson 3: God’s Presence in the Communion Meal
Read MORE: Lesson 3: God’s Presence in the Communion MealIf you asked most Christians about God’s presence, I suspect they would think you were talking about the Sacrament of Holy Communion. That is a good thing in as much as the meal is the central act of our worship…
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Lesson 4: Presence in Baptism
Read MORE: Lesson 4: Presence in BaptismI’ve been suggesting that our primary two considerations about the divine presence among us are God’s promise and our accurate testimony. A sacrament by definition involves the promise of God’s presence. Baptism, like Communion, is a means of grace because…
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Lesson 5: God’s Presence in the Word
Read MORE: Lesson 5: God’s Presence in the WordI belong to a tradition that claims God is primarily present among us in the spoken Word. It acknowledges the importance of the sacraments, but thinks they are ordinary water, bread, and wine unless accompanied by the Word. So, too,…
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Lesson 6: God’s Presence in the Word (Part 2)
Read MORE: Lesson 6: God’s Presence in the Word (Part 2)As usual, writing these lessons has taken me where I never expected to find myself. When I started the series, I fully intended to examine all the different ways that God is present in the Word. That would have been…
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Lesson 7: God’s Presence in Other People
Read MORE: Lesson 7: God’s Presence in Other PeopleAs I implied last week, I began this series thinking it would be short and sweet. My intention was to focus on how God is present among us in the words of the Christian story that enable to perceive him…
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Lesson 8: God’s Presence in Historical Events
Read MORE: Lesson 8: God’s Presence in Historical EventsIt is Christmas Day, an appropriate time to acknowledge God is present in historical events. Our worship every Sunday recognizes this in special happenings. We read scriptural reports on God’s actions throughout the history of salvation. We profess in the…
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Lesson 9: God’s Presence in Creation
Read MORE: Lesson 9: God’s Presence in CreationWhen I came to Gettysburg, one very brilliant seminary professor made fun of those who talked of finding God in nature. He accused them of being pantheists who mistook beauty for divinity. At his worse, he suggested they engaged in…
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.