Another way of Being Evangelical Catholic
Several years ago, my first entry into ecumenical dialogue was to participate in the final round (rounds lasted for several years) of dialogue between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the United Methodist Church (UMC). One member of the Lutheran half of the dialogue introduced himself by saying that Lutherans were “doctrinal bulldogs.” […]
Freedom, Law, Sin, and Concreteness in Christian Ethics
Mark Ellingsen’s elegant presentation of Lutheran theology and ethics — of Lutheran ways of following Jesus — is an absolute treat. I will confine my remarks here to engaging a couple of issues that I consider especially interesting for my specific discipline of Christian ethics, understood, of course, in (my-kind-of) Baptist perspective. As my title […]
The Lawyer and the Monk
Response to Mark Ellingsen, “Lutheranism: An Evangelical Catholic Way to Follow Jesus” Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Reformed Tradition The Lawyer and the Monk Martin Luther was a monk. John Calvin was a lawyer. That contrast in vocational callings is the clearest way to consider the differences between how the Lutheran and Reformed traditions follow Jesus. Those differences, […]
The Lutheran Way–Informing Both Evangelicalism and Anglicanism
Mark Ellingsen’s taxonomy of the different strains of Lutheranism is very helpful for understanding a tradition that is indeed internally diverse, and one that has long captured my interest. Martin Luther himself, of course, is a complex and, for many, a troublesome figure, especially his rhetoric about Jews. But for all his warts, Luther is […]
What I learned from other Christian traditions
Greetings in the name of Christ the King! Once this project was underway and I was able to read the bios of all my Conversation Partners, I joked with Harold Heie that it seemed a bit of a conspiracy to make the Catholic Church look bad, with only a housewife as Her representative! I […]
Lutheranism: An Evangelical Catholic Way to Follow Jesus
In order to articulate Lutheranism’s approach to following Jesus, we need to sort out the Lutheran self-image (at least its historical image) and appreciate the diversity within the Lutheran family. Of course it is well known that Lutherans did not originally name themselves Lutheran. That title is a function of their critics naming them, rather like […]
A Different Path into Another Ancient Church
Dear Christina, Thank you very much for your heartfelt and forthright recounting of the journey into traditional Roman Catholicism that you and your family have made. And thank you also for your frank assessment of social justice efforts on the part of the contemporary Roman Church. Since you’ve told us your basic story, I’ll share […]
Thinking Through Catholic Understandings of the Social Ethic, Eucharist, and Male Leadership
When considering the post about following Jesus from the Roman Catholic perspective, I was struck by three things – the Catholic social ethic, the Eucharistic practice, and the role of the priest in the worship experience. While the particular manner in which many Catholics process and live out their social ethic (as well as the […]
Is the Actual Body of Christ the Wafer? Blood? Community?
In her “Respectful Conversations” post on Roman Catholicism, Christina Wassell (interestingly enough an Anglican convert to Roman Catholicism) foregrounds the Traditional Latin Mass as the hub around which her commitments revolve. Wasell also underscores the centrality of the Mass when pressed (in the reply section) on having less to say about Catholic social ethics. Concluding […]
The Transforming Power of the Eucharist
As I read Christina Wassell’s essay, I was reminded of a statement by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen that I first read in a book written by Scott and Kimberly Hahn entitled Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism (Ignatius, 1993, 1). Quoting: “There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate […]
A Political Theology of Traditionalist Catholicism?
Decades ago, on my first visit to Rome, I stood inside the Church of St. Peter in Chains, watching a stream of people, mostly elderly, stuffing their alms into an offering box. How could the pastors of such an ornate palace accept such a thing, my 18-year-old self asked? It shocked my conscience and I […]
A View from a Member of the Common Priesthood
Any Pietist should hesitate to write critically about Catholicism, since anti-Catholicism is so deeply rooted in our tradition. For all his desire for Christian unity and his disinclination to engage in nasty polemics, Pietist pioneer Philipp Jakob Spener was as hostile to the Catholic Church as most other German Lutheran pastors in the era after […]
Lutheran-Catholic Sacramental Spirituality: Are We Still Divided Over How We Follow Jesus?
As in the case of the dialogue we have already had with the Orthodox tradition, this Lutheran along with other Confessional Lutherans can wholeheartedly endorse the Sacramental spirituality of the Roman Catholic Church (though Lutheran Pietist elements and Lutheran members reflecting a modernist piety might object). Indeed except for the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation (which […]
Old Divisions are Less Divisive
Response to Christina Wassell, traditional Roman Catholic view By Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, Reformed Tradition Old Divisions Are Less Divisive The moving and illuminating account of Christina Wassell’s spiritual journey to the traditional Roman Catholic understanding of “following Jesus” presents challenges for any response from the Reformed tradition. First, my tradition immediately confronts issues which have […]
Eucharist as a Means for Following Jesus
I celebrate Christina Wassell’s account of what the Catholic tradition has done for her and her family. The deeply personal description shows an active, lively faith in following Jesus. In my response, I will concentrate on the Eucharist that has meant so much to her. My tradition may not be best known for its liturgical […]
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