The Bible and the liturgy need each other. The Bible was being read in the liturgical assemblies of Christians already by the middle of the second century, according to Justin Martyr (Apology, I, 67), “as long as time permits.” What Justin called “the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets” were the […]

On or about the 4th of July, our Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson, sent an electronic encyclical to ELCA pastors enjoining us to use our public office of word and sacrament to address public issues, such as matters of social justice and world peace. He gave several examples of his own recent forays into the field […]

The Spring 2004 issue of Let’s Talk stimulated a number of responses from our readers. Many of the comments referred to an article by Robert Benne, which was itself a “Reader’s Response.” We appreciate the thoughtful responses printed below, which have a variety of points of view. Thanks so much for allowing us to see […]

Yesterday at a conference of the Association of Confessional Lutherans I presented almost the same paper I am presenting here today, but under a different title. The title of that paper, “The Difference between the Lutheran and the Roman Catholic Doctrine of the Sacraments,” was exactly the wording of the topic I was asked to […]

I have a question for our readers’ consideration. What does it mean to be a Lutheran in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church? The Augsburg Confession, Article 7, states: “…it is enough for the true unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments. It […]

Martin Luther wrote very little on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as such, concentrating instead in his own calling as a church reformer on the redemptive work of the Triune God among us. Nevertheless, it was only “the lofty articles of the divine Majesty…both parties confess” (Die Bekenntniss-chriften, der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, BSLK, The Smalcald […]

The worship of early Christians developed from Jewish worship and the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament gives us both the forms of worship and the theology behind those forms. As an orthodox Jew Jesus worshipped where Jews worshipped and participated fully in Jewish rites.Although Jesus was critical of many aspects of Israel’s religious life […]

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! This resurrection gospel has a lot of what we who have heard the story year after year have come to expect: the women coming to the tomb at dawn; the stone rolled away; the vision of angels; the other disciples’ disbelief of the women’s “idle tale” […]