By Tim Winterstein –
Who am I and what am I doing here? Or to beg a phrase, what the hell is going on?
Why am I talking about films and theology? You definitely don’t need another person, Lutheran or not, telling you what to think about movies.
theology
By Scott Keith –
Early Days at Wittenberg
Contrary to popular opinion, Melanchthon never served as a parish pastor. Unlike Luther, he was not known as a preacher. But as John Schofield points out in his work Philip Melanchthon and the English Reformation, his 1519 Bachelor of Divinity degree earned at Wittenberg and his appointment to the faculty at the University of Wittenberg made him the first ordained professor of Greek in Germany.
By Scott Keith –
Luther Under the Ban Melanchthon Hard at Work
In 1521—the same year Melanchthon married his wife—at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther was convicted of heresy and placed under a Papal bull and an imperial ban. The ban meant that he was an outlaw and could be killed or imprisoned on sight. It was only the grace and quick thinking of his elector, Fredrick the Wise, that saved Luther’s bacon. Elector Fredrick whisked Luther off to the Wartburg castle for safe keeping. Yet, while Dr. Luther was contending with the Papal bull against him, confessing the Christian faith at Worms, and writing sermons for preaching in the Castle Church and elsewhere, Melanchthon was at work developing the first Lutheran “system” of theology. This work was destined to exert a powerful influence on the Lutheran Reformation and marks an epoch in the history of Christian theology. The work in question was entitled the Loci Communes Theologici, or Common Topics of Theology.
By Bob Hiller –
One of the great joys of the sports bar is what we might call the “greatness debate.” You know how it goes: “Who is the greatest point guard in the league right now?” “If you could start a franchise with three players in the league, who would you take?” “Give me your top five post-season quarterbacks after 1980.” Beer-induced passion sets in producing delightfully aimless arguments with no real answers. Everyone has a chance to flex their sports-trivia muscles and pile on the guys with the worst answers (a position I know all too well).
By Scott Keith –
Early Life and Education:
Philip(p) was born to George and Barbara Schwarzerdt in Bretten in 1497. Philip had four siblings: Anna (1499), Georg (1500 or 1501), Margarete (1506), and Barbara (1508). All were born in his grandparents’ house in the Electoral Saxon Residential town of Bretten. Melanchthon’s father, Georg Schwarzerdt, born in Heidelberg, was a master of gunnery founding and was skilled in forging lightweight, durable armor. Because of his skills, Georg was elevated to the office of electoral master of armorer and thus needed to remain in Heidelberg. Melanchthon’s mother, Barbara, came from the wealthy merchant family of Reuter.
By Scott Keith –
Yesterday I taught a class on Philip Melanchthon at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Frasier, Michigan. At the end of class, I was asked if I would recommend a short biography on Melanchthon suitable for a layperson. Sadly, I said no. Most of the short biographies are out of print and very expensive, and most the modern works are written for academic audiences. So, I decided to do a short series as a brief introduction to the life and times of Philip Melanchthon. As we continue to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, I think that this series of blogs will be helpful and pair nicely with the two forthcoming Thinking Fellows podcasts on Melanchthon.
By Ross Engel –
This is an exciting week in the lives of the future pastors of the LCMS. Both of our synod’s seminaries hosted their annual call and vicarage placement services. These are anxious moments as fourth-year seminarians patiently wait through an evening Vespers service to find out where they will serve for their first Divine Call. Second-year students get to find out where they will be placed for their one year of vicarage (like a pastoral internship). The running joke has always been that calls and vicarage assignments are determined by the throw of a dart at a map of the USA, but I’ve been told that there is much more to the process.
By Graham Glover –
Protestants have a problem. It’s a problem that’s not going away. Protestants try to explain it, they try to finesse it into something understandable, at times they even ignore it – wishing it weren’t as big an issue as it is. But it’s still here. It still lingers.
By Cindy Koch –
The boy held tightly to his father’s hand as the noise increased. Scared, he looked up past the tangled beard above into those fiery eyes of which he was already afraid. That face he saw above was frozen and hot, launching an invisible attack across the counter. The receiving enemy’s eyes darted to the right and left, unsure of how to escape. This young man on the other side of the counter nervously shifted his weight while feeling around blindly for something on which to hold on. This conversation was going very badly, and they all knew it.
By Graham Glover –
The United States of America has become our idol. It has become our god. Our worship of it, or at least what we think it should be, consumes us. I dare say it defines us. We talk about what it means to be a good American all the time. Our devotion to living out what we perceive to be the “American Dream” is the benchmark of our success – its fulfillment is what we strive to every day.
We may claim to put God first. We talk often about the importance of family and friends. But nothing beats the U.S. of A. It is our priority. In everything.
By Paul Koch –
The smorgasbord that is American Christianity is a plethora of material for running jokes and cultural commentary. Not only is there a conflict between people of the Christian faith and those outside the Church, but there is also an ongoing conflict within Christianity. The Baptists are pretty sure that the Catholics are going to hell, the Lutherans continually frustrate and confuse the Presbyterians (but let’s be honest that’s not hard to do), the Catholics think everyone else is just throwing a temper tantrum and will come home eventually, and on it goes.
By Scott Keith –
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:25
When I’m not traveling for work, I like to spend as much time as possible in the mountains at our little cabin in the woods. Quite simply, it recharges me. The work needed to keep the place up, starting the fire in the morning, the slower pace of life, and the natural beauty all bring me a sense of calm and peace that I don’t always possess when I’m “down the hill.” I have always thought of the mountains as home, and so whenever possible, I follow the well know mantra uttered by Jon Muir: “The mountains are calling, and I must go.”
By Bob Hiller –
One of the things I tend to geek out on is sports broadcasting. Like most sports fans my age, I grew up watching game highlights on Sportscenter. I became a fan, not just of the players on the highlight reel but also of the broadcasters who delivered the highlights. So, I was enthralled this week while listening to an interview Jim Miller, the author of Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Miller spoke with Dan Patrick about the current state of sports broadcasting and what has changed with stations like ESPN. Patrick pointed one of my pet peeves with ESPN and sports broadcasting in general. He suggested that “Debate has replaced the highlight.” Building on Patrick’s assertion, Miller said sports debate shows were growing in popularity because “Young male viewers loved seeing these guys [the sportscasters/debators] go at it…the most outlandish things, even if they weren’t supported by fact, you know, were provocative.”
By Paul Koch –
Every now and then, I begin to long for a little anonymity in life. I long to be able to sit in the back, disappear from the conversations, and be a nameless participant whom no one can even remember whether or not showed up. I think it might be nice to keep my head down and keep to myself, not having to worry about what is going on in the Church or how we might best interact with our culture. Isn’t it enough to worry about what I’m doing and how I’m caring for my congregation and not care about what anyone else is doing?
By Cindy Koch –
Everyone can read, but does everyone understand? We see it every day. Person after person reads these same words, but each believes they mean something totally different. Bible-believing Christians faithfully arm themselves with beautiful words of Scripture but end up fighting on opposite sides of the spectrum. How does this happen? Is there a single right way to read the Bible? Or must we accept every interpretation as true? Is there a better way to read the Words? Before we flip open this book, a good reader of the Bible considers a few of these questions.
By Scott Keith –
I write quite frequently for The Jagged Word and somewhat less frequently on 1517 The Legacy Project. Admittedly, I design most of my posts to encourage you, the reader, to enact the freedom that Christ has won for you. Inevitably, when I post, I receive comment after comment reminding me to remember the famously over-referenced “Third Use of the Law.”
Do you like long walks on the beach, puppies, hummus, the color light tan? Then you will absolutely hate Ringside! The preachers pour some light on some hot traxx! Topics: preaching in the age of Trump aint so easy, Why do Roman Catholics often receive only the host during communion? What’s the unforgivable sin exactly? Is Facebook dead? When can we revolt!? Is there a Christian dress-code? MLK’s awesome Street Sweeper speech! and more!!!
By Scott Keith –
“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep into our own history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular.” These are the words spoken by Edward R. Murrow as encouragement to those who would stand up in opposition to then Senator McCarthy’s hearings designed to root out all dissenters, whether they were guilty of being communists or not. Mr. Murrow goes on to remind us all of a simple yet exceptionally difficult reality: “We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result.”
By Graham Glover –
It’s sad, but true.
Conservative Christians, a group I consider myself to be a part of, have come to love politics more than theology. Recently, their political euphoria is utterly palpable. Theology? Eh, who cares about that…
By Bob Hiller –
Before I was writing here for the good ol’ Jagged Word in any official capacity, I was an avid reader of the blog. Every week, I looked forward to reading “The Emperor’s Chair.” I always found Graham’s views on politics and ecumenism (specifically his views on the relationship between Rome and Wittenberg) to be challenging and even refreshing as he had the guts to speak in ways that are different from the standard Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod way of thinking. I disagreed with much of what Graham said but was always impressed with his willingness to dialogue and think outside the norm for what he believed was the good of the Church catholic.