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 8: Conversation and Dialogue
Read MORE: Lesson 8: Conversation and DialogueWe have come to the last of the five reoccurring themes that I found when hastily rereading the documents of Vatican II. Although my intention was simply to refresh my memory, I was pleasantly surprised to find the five could…
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Lesson 7: Unity in Diversity
Read MORE: Lesson 7: Unity in DiversityThe call for unity in diversity emerged as one of the hallmarks of Vatican II. It was used in a variety of contexts during the Council and remains a helpful guideline for a servant church speaking to a global society.…
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Lesson 6: The Dignity of Humanity
Read MORE: Lesson 6: The Dignity of HumanityI am increasingly convinced Vatican II was able to lay the groundwork of a new Christian narrative for our modern age, because for the most part, it looked at our situation with a simple honesty. That honesty recognized the narrative…
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Lesson 5: The New Age
Read MORE: Lesson 5: The New AgeSeveral times a day, friends lament that they are unable to talk about important issues with people who hold opposing views. Today, one reported that Thanksgiving was awful, because family members got angry discussing politics. Another said bridge club has…
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Lesson 4: Life as a Reality Television Show
Read MORE: Lesson 4: Life as a Reality Television ShowYears ago, students of technology warned that everything in a technological society becomes entertainment. Usually they were speaking about the evening news, and their prescience is downright obvious there. Today, news has become 24/7 entertainment, political talk show hosts rationalize…
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Lesson 3: The Servant Church
Read MORE: Lesson 3: The Servant ChurchI am going to lay out two dominant narratives that the Church has used to understand and identify herself in the past 500 years. More importantly, I am then going to suggest a new narrative offered by Vatican II. I…
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Lesson 1: A New Church Narrative
Read MORE: Lesson 1: A New Church NarrativeIn marking the anniversary of the Reformation, it became clear to some of us that 500-year-old narratives really do not serve our mission to proclaim the Gospel in our own time. That has put me on a kick to consider…
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Lesson 8: The Sacrament of Holy Communion in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism
Read MORE: Lesson 8: The Sacrament of Holy Communion in Martin Luther’s Small CatechismUnderstanding Luther’s understanding of the Sacrament of the Altar has become more relevant recently as many churches engage in a largely unnoticed ecumenical movement toward full communion. The term is almost a play on words as it primarily means efforts…
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Lesson 7: The Sacrament of Baptism in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism
Read MORE: Lesson 7: The Sacrament of Baptism in Martin Luther’s Small CatechismYou get an idea of the critical role played by the sacraments in Lutheran thought by examining Article VII of the Augsburg Confession. It defines the Holy Christian Church as “the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is…
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Lesson 6: The Lord’s Prayer in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism
Read MORE: Lesson 6: The Lord’s Prayer in Martin Luther’s Small CatechismI am going to examine the primary thoughts that appear throughout Luther’s explanation. You can study his treatment of particular petitions here. Perhaps the first thing that jumps out is Luther’s use of justification by grace through faith alone. His…
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.