by John A. Nunes Editor’s Note: Throughout 2024 Lutheran Forum online will be featuring essays by mid-20th century theologians from the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The essays will also be accompanied by an editorial length reflection from a contemporary theologian in the LCMS. This is the second in that series. Read “The One Eucharist for the One World” https://scholar.csl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4929&context=ctm Cicero, whose thinking provoked in part the faith of both Saints Augustine and Jerome, intuited rightly that there is “a certain order of things foreknown by God.”[1 ..read more

by Matthew E. Borrasso Editor’s Note: Throughout 2024 Lutheran Forum online will be featuring essays by mid-20th century theologians from the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The essays will also be accompanied by an editorial length reflection from a contemporary theologian in the LCMS. This is the first in that series. The following essay has been transcribed from a handwritten manuscript in the archives at Concordia Historical Institute. Thanks to Concordia Historical Institute for providing the author with the essay. Any perceived errors are likely the fault of the transcriber and not the a ..read more

by Joshua Hollmann Flowing from the central Biblical doctrine that faith alone justifies, Lutherans have traditionally focused on credere Deo (trust in God and faith as gift of God).[i] While, as Lutherans chime, this is most certainly true—and there should be no doubt about faith alone in Christ alone—the Lutheran theological tradition has also affirmed the related aspect of fides quaerens intellectum, faith seeking understanding, or viewed from a Lutheran lens, understanding in, with, and under faith.[ii] Faith as articulated by Christians is a complex concept with many attributes. Fides qu ..read more

“This is a story about abject freedom,” sings Blake Flattley for the opening lines of 1517 Music’s Freedom Lessons—a hip-hop album about Luther’s Small Catechism. Yes, a hip-hop album about Luther’s Small Catechism. The catalyst of this project is Grammy nominated artist Marcus “FLAME” Gray. Flame is a convert to Lutheranism from the Reformed tradition and each project he has worked on since becoming Lutheran demonstrates this commitment. Flame spoke at the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s national convention last summer and was recently honored by the Atlantic District of the LCMS for being a ..read more

Davis and Welter had a vision of what they wanted for the album cover. In between takes at St. James Cathedral they enlisted the help of Shane’s wife, Lauren, to shoot this photo. “No matter who you are or what you believe, if you’re in a big city and pass by a cathedral, the odds are you’ll go inside. There, you’ll be met with a sense of peace, of awe, of something bigger. The beauty might even move you to light a candle. And so our story begins.” —Heather Choate Davis (Sophia Streams) Several years ago author Heather Choate Davis began writing music for friends and professionals to play ..read more

In summer 2021, Matthew C. Harrison, President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), posted his support of the LCMS Mid-South District’s passage of Resolution 03-04-21A which, among other things, rejects critical race theory (CRT).[1] The resolution reads in part, “That the Mid-South District in convention reject the world view of CRT, as it is contrary to Scripture and counterproductive to true racial conversation and reconciliation.”[2] Using the LCMS Mid-South District, the LCMS president apparently deemed all of CRT, in its varied gradations, critiques, practitioners, and applicat ..read more

by Piotr J. Małysz “… about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:46) It is in the cross atop Golgotha that we see the depth of our sin. Without the cross, we may be inclined to think that our problem lies in not living up to our true potential, in not trying harder, or in not living up to how we instinctively feel the world ought to be. Our actions, to be sure, often put us at odds with ourselves, each other, and the world; and the older you get, the more there is to live down ..read more

by Piotr J. Małysz To Love or Not to Love That love stands at the center of the Christian imagination is a statement of the obvious. It is impossible to speak of God without rather soon turning to love that gives all our God-talk its center and texture. Likewise, it is impossible to speak of humanity without summoning love to show us what it is that endows our being with ultimate meaning, or what, when present by its conspicuous absence, makes us into clanging cymbals. The Bible addresses itself to both of these: the overabundant love of God and the rather halting and often wanting human love ..read more

“Apotheosis of Peace" by Jerzy Duda-Gracz; source: Polish Masters of Art (Facebook) by Piotr J. Małysz Beeson Divinity School Samford University Covid-era travel has been both precarious and full of unexpected opportunities. Jumping at one of those last fall, I purchased my ticket to travel to Poland in time for my mother’s 70th birthday in March 2022. Of course, once the time came for me to fly out of Alabama, the world had changed. And it wasn’t a matter of lockdowns, masking, or other pandemic-related restrictions. It was a matter of war—all of a sudden raging rather discomfortingly close ..read more

by John Hoyum from LF Spring 2022 Evangelical catholicism in American Lutheranism appears to be in decline. In a recent Lutheran Forum editorial, R. David Nelson admits he was tempted to profile the movement by invoking the image of an autopsy. He chose instead to offer an account of a “pathology.” Whatever image one might summon, there is no question that it’s a movement in crisis. There is an institutional explanation for the malaise of evangelical catholic identity: Lutheran unity in the United States appears to be an impossible dream. But there are also underlying theological reasons for ..read more