The Two Kingdoms in America

Abstract : Two classical Christian commitments—the Augustinian notion of human sin plus the Reformation distinction between the two kingdoms—have been folded in to the vision of America's founding fathers. Contemporary secular political understanding reflects these wholesome religious roots. Most importantly, the Reformation commitment to relieving poverty belongs squarely on the ethical agenda of today's democracy.     

Luther's Challenge: The Power of Greed in Our Common Home

When faced with growing poverty, corrupt business practices, and the power of banking houses and lobbyists, Luther drew on his theological anthropology in order to discern the devastating power of greed in human relationships. And yet, as he admitted, greed was and is a clever master of human ambition, accepted by leaders in church, commerce, and government. His teaching on the power of greed was in continuity with the Christian tradition and yet broke new ground in his recognition that this vice possesses a social, institutional nature.     

Pure Gospel or Full Gospel: On the Principles of Lutheran and Pentecostal Theology

The claim in recent conversations among Lutherans and Pentecostals that the “pure gospel” and “full gospel” paradigms held respectively by each tradition represent contrasting theological principles is examined through a historical and theological study of the notion of “gospel.” The two paradigms, although not mutually exclusive, identify different hermeneutical and doctrinal commitments that suggest that the contrast between the two traditions exists not in the idea of the gospel but in its mode of expression.     

Aquinas and Luther on War and Peace: Sovereign Authority and the Use of Armed Force

Recent just war thought has tended to prioritize just cause among the moral criteria to be satisfied for resort to armed force, reducing the requirement of sovereign authority to a secondary, supporting role: such authority is to act in response to the establishment of just cause. By contrast, Aquinas and Luther, two benchmark figures in the development of Christian thought on just war, unambiguously gave priority to the requirement of sovereign authority as instituted by God to carry out the responsibilities of ensuring a just and peaceful order in the world. On this conception it is the sovereign, in deciding whether to resort to armed force, who must make sure to satisfy the other moral requirements of the jus ad bellum . This paper examines Aquinas and Luther on sovereign authority for use of armed force. Recapturing the importance of this conception is important both for the proper understanding of just war tradition and for working out its implications for such contemporary issues as humanitarian intervention and "regime change."     

Navigating Moral Struggle: Toward a Social Model of Exemplarity

Exemplars have the power to help people navigate various levels of moral struggle, from the relatively straightforward problem of lacking motivation to the much deeper problem of failing to see the moral realities that surround us. But there are also serious moral risks in the appeal to exemplars: we romanticize them, we make use of them in authoritarian ways, and we tend to forget how our choice of exemplars is conditioned by oppressive cultural formations. I argue that we need to develop a social model of exemplarity, attuned to social contexts of our exemplars themselves as well as the social processes of constructing and appealing to exemplars. More particularly, I argue that we need to develop space for thinking about exemplary groups, not just exemplary individuals, in order to develop the strengths and avoid the weaknesses in exemplarist moral theories.     

This is Not About Sex? A Discussion of the Understanding of Love and Grace in Bernard of Clairvaux's and Martin Luther's Theologies

Abstract : This article engages the understanding of love and grace in Bernard's and Luther's theologies. Taking as a point of departure Anders Nygren's dichotomy of love in agape and eros, Wiberg Pedersen outlines some of the issues raised by Nygren's thesis. Arguing against Nygren's caricature of Bernard's theology, Wiberg Pedersen shows the similarities between Bernard's and Luther's understandings of love and grace, which lead her to hypothesize that Luther was inspired by Bernard in a theologia caritatis that is simultaneously a theologia cordis (creation and inspiration) and a theologia crucis (incarnation and justification), all led by grace.     

Pneumatology and the Cross: The Challenge of Neo‐Pentecostalism to Lutheran Theology

Abstract : Historically, Lutheran engagement with the charismatic and Pentecostal movements has been largely negative. After a brief review of this history, I explore the question: What would a Lutheran engagement of the Spirit look like in view of the kinds of questions people are asking today that draw them to Pentecostal churches? Is there a place in Lutheran theology for affirming that the Holy Spirit is the “giver of life” and even “abundant life”?     

The Finnish Luther: Reflections from a Buddhist Perspective

Abstract : The author argues that the debate regarding the “Finnish Luther” can be illuminated by the rhetoric of merit of Shinran, the founder of the Jōdoshinshū sect of Japanese Buddhism. Tuomo Mannermaa and his colleagues have argued that Luther's doctrine of justification has more in common with the Orthodox doctrine of theosis than the theology of forensic justification of subsequent Lutheran theologians. In faith, the sinner undergoes an existential transformation due to the ontological indwelling of Christ. Both Luther and Shinran begin with similar starting points: the unbridgeable chasm between the sinner and the savior. In Shinran, this sets in motion an affirmation of the existential transformation of the sinner. Shinran's Buddhist rhetoric of merit, therefore, lends plausibility to this interpretation of Luther.     

Scenes and Means of Grace

Abstract : The Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion—key means of grace according to the Lutheran tradition—take place in a web of earthly conditions whenever they are celebrated. Generating their own scenes of grace, the means of grace give voice, sense of place, and creativity where those are otherwise threatened. Other scenes of grace complement the means of grace, similarly bringing voice, place, and creativity in the face of environmental and social injustices. Martin Luther's affirmation of Christ's presence in creation, both in means of grace and throughout God's world, is a strategic and meaningful threshold for Christians to engage environment and justice while continuing to listen and look for the grace in Christ that feeds and shapes them.     

Coram Meipso: Presence,Privilege, and Vocations in Feminist and Lutheran Languages

Abstract : Themes of simultaneity and complex identity emerge when considering the human person using Lutheran theological constructs and feminist theoretical analysis. Focusing on human life coram meipso does not mean committing the error of pride that Luther and his Augustinian brothers so feared. Instead, coupled with a robust understanding of interlocking systems of privilege and oppression, looking into ourselves illuminates multiple vocations for justice that we have in the world.