Mathew Block

Lutheran Forum recently came to the end of its 2013 Theological Reading Challenge, with the last document on the reading-list being “The Gospel and the Church” (alternately known as “The Malta Report”). This 1972 document—a production of Lutheran-Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

James R. Rogers’ recent essay “Credit the Calvinists”  asks why Calvinists and not Lutherans have become the public faces of the doctrine of predestination. “For whatever reason,” he writes, “Lutherans are not widely identified with predestinarian . . . . Continue Reading »

Just under two weeks ago, I noted on First Thoughts the news that the province of Quebec was planning to outlaw public employees from wearing overt religious garb. While aspects of the proposed “Charter of Quebec Values” had been leaked, at the time the government hadn’t officially . . . . Continue Reading »

A little while back, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made headlines for his comments on the persecution (or lack thereof) of Christians in the West. “Persecution is not being made to feel mildly uncomfortable,” he said. “I am always very uneasy when people sometimes in . . . . Continue Reading »

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was defeated yesterday in his bid for re-election. In his place, the ELCA has elected its first female presiding bishop: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeastern Ohio Synod. The election went to a fifth ballot, the . . . . Continue Reading »

In his Confessions , St. Augustine records how a friend of his, the doctor Vindicianus, was instrumental in leading him away from astrology. When St. Augustine asked how, if astrology were false, some of its prophecies nevertheless seemed to come true, Vindicianus chalked it up to luck: an . . . . Continue Reading »

A recent report by the Public Research Institute and the Brookings Institution attempts to present a clearer picture of American religious orientation. One of the things it explores, as Lauren Markoe notes at Religion News Service , is differing views among Americans as to what being . . . . Continue Reading »

This past Saturday, the 2.2 million strong Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod announced the re-election of Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison as President. President Harrison was first elected in 2010. The same convention which elected him also adopted new policies for the election of the . . . . Continue Reading »

A few Fridays back, President Munib A. Younan of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) spoke to the LWF’s Council in Geneva about rising persecution of Christians in the Middle East , urging Christians there to remain as a witness to others. “We are seeing a global rise in extremism,” . . . . Continue Reading »

Sarah Pulliam Bailey has a comprehensive article over at  Religion News Service on the election of the first openly gay bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As she notes, the election comes four years following the events of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly when a narrow margin of . . . . Continue Reading »