Posted in Philosophy on May 6th, 2009
What is the Twentieth-Century Project? The Twentieth-Century Project (TCP) is the attempt by late nineteenth through early twenty-first century Lutheran theologians to salvage and/or make relevant Lutheranism by accommodating, in varying degrees, contemporary science, philosophy, history, sociology, and culture. Philosophical influences of the TCP stretch back to the eighteenth century and the Enlightenment, which sought [...]
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Posted in Uncategorized on May 6th, 2009
From the May 4 Rochester, Minnesota Post-Bulletin: “I want to say we have turned the corner, but it’s probably more accurate to say we are turning the corner,” said the Rev. Bruce Benson of the St. Olaf Student Congregation in Northfield, Minn., who wrote the resolution. Gay marriage is not recognized in Minnesota, Benson acknowledged, [...]
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Posted in sex on Apr 1st, 2009
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued press releases today referencing the ELCA’s sexuality statement and recommendations. You can read the press releases here and here, respectively.
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Posted in sex, sexuality on Mar 29th, 2009
Morpheus to Neo: This is your last chance. After this, there is no going back. You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole [...]
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Posted in sex on Mar 20th, 2009
There it is, my friends: I’ve let the cat out of the bag. The problem with current discourse in Lutheran circles regarding sexuality is, well, the word sexuality. You can’t find sexuality in the Bible (oh, sure, there are male and female, marriage, sex, more sex, approved sex, prohibited sex, and so on), but not [...]
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Posted in sex on Mar 17th, 2009
Here’s an older piece, ca. 1994, by Dr. Mary M. Knutson, while associate professor of systematic theology at the ELCA’s Luther Seminary in St. Paul. The general themes of this document and the ELCA’s 2009 proposed sexuality statment, Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust, are remarkably similar. In both, notice the: invocation of Scripture and Luther (or other Reformers); promotion of [...]
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Posted in sex on Mar 7th, 2009
Carl E. Braaten, professor emeritus of the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and co-founder of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, offers a thoughtful critique of the proposed ELCA Sexuality Social Statement and Recommendations. Braaten’s careful observation below should be read, memorized, and applied to any social or theological statement produced by any [...]
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Posted in sex on Mar 7th, 2009
Robert Benne, professor emeritus at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, and the Director of the Center for Religion and Society, weighs in on the ELCA’s Sexuality Social Statement and Recommendations. Benne suggests that the statement avoids making normative judgments about homosexual conduct by neglecting the testimony of the Bible and the Christian moral tradition on [...]
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