Fall 2004
By Matthew Becker My friend, Dr. Edward Schroeder, often asks the question, “How does one commend good works without losing the gospel promise?” I think that is a good question. Nonetheless, as many others point out, we Lutheran Christians have not done a very good job of rightly and effectively joining the two aspects of…
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By David Stein Kierkegaard wrote years ago: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” To that end permit me to return [some] to the past, stand beside the present and pray with hope about God’s future for the church catholic and apostolic. It’s always easiest to go backwards, to dredge…
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The Statement of the Forty-four and the Evangelical Imagination By Andrew Schroeder “Do not adjust your television set; we have taken control of it.” So began the old television series The Outer Limits. In this series the viewer was treated to fascinating views of the human psyche, science fiction and just plain weirdness. Similar control has been…
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By Robert Schmidt Ninety-four new congregations joined the Missouri Synod in 2003. Of these, sixty-two were made up of non-white ethnic groups. I have had the privilege of working with one of these new congregations. It started about five years ago among some dedicated Oromo people from central and southern Ethiopia. Seven immigrants met in…
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By Frederick Niedner Isaiah 25:6-9 6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that…
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By Stephen Krueger Martin Marty sets out on an enormous enterprise in his new biography of Martin Luther as anyone who has seen the recent “Luther” movie can attest. How does one do a satisfactory biography of Luther within the space allotted? The movie, “Luther,” was roundly criticized, among other things, for its patchy coverage…
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By Dale Krueger Prior to his Damascus experience, Paul was thoroughly immersed in the study of the Law. The Spirit of the living Christ so transformed him that he saw himself as even being “crucified with Christ” (2:20). Now he saw the Law from a totally different perspective. He proclaimed the evangelical message that had…
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