Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

Living In The Promises And Places Of God A Theology Of The World, Charles Arand, Erik Herrmann

Concordia Journal

In this discourse mutual witness is possible as the lives of both Christians and non-Christians function as a testimony to part of the story of God.

Case For Character: Towards A Lutheran Virtue Ethics. By Joel D. Biermann, Mark Mattes

Concordia Journal

Over all, Biermann’s contribution is significant, timely, and a remarkable achievement that will alter current discussions of ethics among Lutherans and other Christians.

Lent 2 • Romans 5:1–11 • March 1, 2015, Robert Kolb

Concordia Journal

Suffering does not save, but those who have found salvation and peace in Christ can expect the hostility of Satan in the midst of daily life as it manifests itself in attacks and temptations of various kinds.

Making Sense Of Confessionalism Today, Joel Okamoto

Concordia Journal

Okamoto states that problems with confessionalism come from taking the Confessions for granted. He suggests making the confessions our own by seeking to explain and defend them for our time and place. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession should remain in force, but a twenty-first Apology could provide a contemporary explanation for current circumstances. This would be a way to appropriate the confessions as confessions, not merely as doctrinal standards, and would be a constructive rather than defensive approach.

“I Make These Confessions My Own” Lutheran Confessional Subscription In The Twenty-First Century Robert Kolb And Charles P. Arand, Robert Kolb, Charles Arand

Concordia Journal

The spirit of Augsburg and the method of the Wittenberg theologians carry the content of the Lutheran confessional documents into the many societies and cultures of the twenty-first century in which God calls Lutherans to repeat their confession of faith for the benefit of church and world.

The Nicene Creed In The Church, David Maxwell

Concordia Journal

“Let us confess our Christian faith in the words of the Nicene Creed.” But what do we mean when we identify the content of the faith with the words of the creed.

Introduction From The Chair, Joel Okamoto

Concordia Journal

I propose that we think of “confessionalism” as understanding our identity and life as Christians in terms of the basic confession “Jesus is Lord.”

Epiphany 3 • Isaiah 9:1–4 • January 26, 2014, Quentin Wesselschmidt

Concordia Journal

The unrepented sins of Israel received their due; so the sins of our age will not go unpunished by God unless people confess their sins and cast themselves upon the mercy of God that is offered in Christ Jesus.

Baptism Of Our Lord • Isaiah 42:1–7 • January 12, 2014, Thomas Manteufel

Concordia Journal

Through the baptismal covenant, we are united with Christ and receive his blessings.

Epiphany • Isaiah 60:1–6 • January 5, 2014, Leopoldo Sánchez

Concordia Journal

Who are those in our neighborhood who have yet to be drafted into Jesus, the new Israel, brought into the light of the Lord, so that they too may be saved and worship him?

Christmas 1 • Isaiah 63:7–14 • December 29, 2013, Joel Biermann

Concordia Journal

Deluded by the illusion of self-mastery and bolstered by the culture’s eager affirmation of the supremacy of the individual, autonomous man is as resistant to the incursion of a new ruler as was Herod of Jerusalem.

Advent 4 • Isaiah 7:10–17 • December 22, 2013, Wally Becker

Concordia Journal

The sign of Immanuel is a sign of hope and promise, of grace and mercy, for Jesus has come to be with us, with forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Proper 12 • Deuteronomy 7:6-9 • July 27, 2014, Thomas Manteufel

Concordia Journal

God, our faithful God, keeps his word and covenant in redemption and forgiveness.

Back To The Beginning Creation Shapes The Entire Story, Charles Arand

Concordia Journal

So creation is more than a stage or scenery for God’s story. It is integral to the entire story. After all, the entire story is about God’s relationship to his creation, especially to those extraordinary creatures that he had formed from the ground to look after and cultivate his creation.

Finding Aid For Herald Of Truth Records, Mcgarvey Ice

Herald of Truth Documents

No abstract provided.

Divine Kingdom, Holy Order: The Political Writings Of Martin Luther By Jarre Carty, Editor, Theodore Hopkins

Concordia Journal

Only Carty’s introductory essay is necessary in order for the reader to understand Luther from Carty’s perspective, which enables the reader to read any selection of interest with a lessened chance of confusion.

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not A Truly Evangelical Reading Of Scrip By Christian Smith, John Bombaro

Concordia Journal

By making a compelling argument that christocentrism, not bibliocentrism, is the truly evangelical response to theological liberalism and cultural caricaturing, The Bible Made Impossible warrants mandatory reading by all thoughtful Christians and thorough discussion by Lutheran pastors, professors, and seminarians.

Lent 5 • Ezekiel 37:1–14 • April 6, 2014, Joel Okamoto

Concordia Journal

Psalm 118:22, “The stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.” Some who saw and heard Jesus firsthand did not believe but instead killed him.

Lent 4 • Isaiah 42:14–21 • March 30, 2014, Robert Kolb

Concordia Journal

Turn to the execution of his promise in Christ, the one who opens our ears to God’s communication, his torah, and who opens our eyes to his concern for us, both in his anguish over our sins and in his love that delivers us from evil.

Epiphany • Ephesians 3:1–12 • January 4, 2015, Joel Okamoto

Concordia Journal

Now, instead of the law separating Jews and Gentiles, God offered salvation apart from works of the law to both Jews and Gentiles.

The Scandal Of Having Something To Say: Ricoeur And The Possibility Of Postliberal Preach-Ing By Lance Pape, Dennis Matyas

Concordia Journal

Pape likens the cyclical nature of mimesis to be a spring, building on Ricoeur’s notion of mimesis gaining “altitude” with each cycle.

“These Are Written”: Toward A Cruciform Theology Of Scripture By Peter H. Nafzger, Greg Michael

Concordia Journal

Nafzger encourages the church to recognize the limitations of the doctrine of inspiration as the central guide to understanding Scriptures and to move towards an understanding of Scriptures that focuses on a Trinitarian economy of salvation and centers in the Christ event.

Proper 21 • Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32 • September 28, 2014, Kent Burreson

Concordia Journal

The preacher is encouraged to give attention to the rhetorical structure of the pericope that reconstructs a conversation between Yahweh and Israel through Ezekiel, although decidedly from God’s perspective.

Proper 14 • Job 38:4–18 • August 10, 2014, David Maxwell

Concordia Journal

In keeping with the flow of the book of Job, the preacher should replace the listener’s sense of indignation with a sense of wonder at God’s majesty and his grace.

Martin Luther’S Platzregen In Action The Changing Face Of Global Christianity, Douglas Rutt

Concordia Journal

The study of the momentous demographic shifts in Christianity that have taken place in the past two decades has become a growth industry of sorts.

God’S Word Produces Faith And Fruit Reflections From Luther’S Understanding Of The Sermon On The Mount, Robert Kolb

Concordia Journal

In his comments on the Sermon on the Mount in 1538 he made clear that the community’s light was to shine with good works, which meant specifically “the exercise, expression, and confession of the teaching of Christ and faith and suffering for its sake.”

Evaluating The Authenticity Of The Gospels, James O'Brien

Spring 2015, Faith and Science

Today, moderns, as well as biblical scholars, have a hard time accepting the possibility that the Gospels are authentic. The idea that a document composed two thousand years ago could be trusted is dismissed as absurd. However, this assumes that there is no evidence suggesting the contrary. Richard Bauckham, in his book, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, rejects this “gratuitous doubt” and provides a novel contribution to our knowledge of the historical Jesus. This book has awakened scholars to the possibility that the skepticism of form criticism is not only uncritical but also unwarranted. Contra to popular opinion in the …

Deification, Friendship, And Self-Knowledge, Matthew Hale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does human friendship contribute to the process of deification? In this thesis, I will argue that a kind of “spiritual friendship” contributes to the process of deification by placing the human agent in a better position for acquiring self-knowledge, and avoiding false beliefs or misunderstandings about the self. This acquisition of self-knowledge is an important part of the deification process, which involves not just a moral and ontological transformation, but an epistemological one as well.

Answering Your Question: Creeds And Confessions, Wayne A. Kobes

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The church could well benefit from a clear, contemporary statement of the essentials of the Christian faith in language that speaks to 21st century people."

Posting about the value of new creeds and confessions in the church from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/answering-your-question-creeds-and-confessions/

One Big Thing: Suffering As The Path To New Life In Crime And Punishment, Kelly M. Kramer

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

After spending a whole semester reading and thinking about Dostoevsky, the main thing that has struck me about him is his treatment of the theme of suffering. Despite, and even through, his extremely complicated characters and events, he nevertheless focuses his novels, particularly Crime and Punishment, on presenting a nuanced yet unified picture of suffering. After a brief analysis of several of the relevant characters and plot points, his thoughts on what suffering does to and for the individual will be presented. In contrast to our culture’s almost idolization of suffering as an experience which gives one instant respect, …