Late yesterday I learned that my teacher, mentor, and friend Martin E. Marty died on Tuesday, Feb 25. He was 97. I first heard about him when I was a student at Concordia College, Portland, Ore. Three of my professors there had been his undergraduate schoolmates, and two others had studied with him at the University of Chicago, and they occasionally pointed us to his books and essays. During those college years, The Christian Century, for which Marty was then serving as senior editor, became regular reading fare. His “M.E.M.O.” at the end of each issue was usually the first thing I pondered ..read more

Last week marked the end of my vocation as a professor of undergraduate theology. After thirty-one years of such teaching, twenty of which were spent at Valpo, I have decided to take early retirement.  My last day was August fifth. Although Valpo's administration recently announced that the theology major and minor will be spared discontinuation, those programs are nevertheless slated to undergo what will likely be a radical process of "reimagining." What will come from that process of revision is unclear to me, but it does seem to indicate that the institution will no longer favor the ki ..read more

Earlier today, I received the following email: Dear VU Faculty, We invite you to sign this petition in support of the Humanities at VU, and to share it widely among your personal and professional networks. https://www.change.org/SaveTheHumanitiesAtVU --Friends of VU Please consider signing this online petition in support of theology and the other humanities at Valpo ..read more

David Masciotra recently wrote an article for Salon that refers to the recent decision of the Valpo administration to begin the process of discontinuing several academic programs at the university, including theology. David is an alumnus of Valpo. You can read his article here: https://www.salon.com/2024/03/16/ignorance-and-democracy-capitalisms-long-against-higher-education ..read more

Students at Valpo have started a petition that calls upon Valpo's administrators to stop their plan to discontinue the theology programs at the university. If you would like to sign the petition, go here ..read more

This morning I learned that several programs at my university are now slated for discontinuance. Included in the proposal are all theology programs. Also included are foreign languages, music, and other programs in the humanities and the sciences. To see the list of programs slated for discontinuance, go here. Many faculty who teach in these programs will likely have their positions cut. Here is the letter that I received this morning from the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences: Dear Members of the Department of Philosophy and Theology,   I write to inform you that the Theology ..read more

I'm pleased to announce that my new book on fundamental theology was published today. While technically it is a second edition, no paragraph from the first version has been left unchanged. I also added a few new chapters. To learn more about the book, go here ..read more

Longtime family friend Rev. Arthur ("Art") Simon died on November 14, 2023. To read an official announcement, go here. Art's father and my grandfather were colleagues in ministry, serving as fellow Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod pastors in Oregon. Art, his brother Paul (not the famous songwriter/singer but the famous US senator from Illinois, who was also a one-time presidential candidate), my uncle Bob, and my dad were friends when they were active in the LCMS's youth organization, the Walther League. Art wrote briefly about his friendship with my dad in the opening chapter of one of his ..read more

On Tuesday, Nov 28, at 1pm (Central Standard Time), I will be leading an online Crossings "Table Talk" discussion about atheism, based on a chapter from my upcoming book, Fundamental Theology , 2nd ed. (Bloomsbury, 2024).  For an introductory "trailer" for this Table Talk, go here. This talk is free, but you must pre-register with Cathy Lessmann via email. After registering, you will receive an invitation to join our Zoom-based Crossings Table Talk.  To register, go here ..read more

On the morning of Christmas Eve 2018, after getting out of the shower, I couldn't see very well. The vision in my right eye was clouded by large blind spots, scattered gray areas, splotches of nothingness. I initially thought I was suffering from an optic migraine, which I have experienced several times throughout my life. But the blind spots didn't go away. During that night's Christmas Eve service, all I could do was to keep wondering, "Why can't I see out of my right eye? What has happened? Lord, why this blindness?" Needless to say, my Christmas that year was a bit more anxious than normal ..read more