Journal of Lutheran Ethics Issue Index April/May 2020: Lutheran Theology and the Relationship between Church and State

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, Editor
If it is true that many people consider it impolite to talk publically about religion or politics, then perhaps no topic is going to be more improper to discuss than the topic of the proper relationship of church and state. Yet, both articles in this issue all call Lutherans to talk publically about their religion, about their political views, and about how the two intersect. Read more.

For Congregational Discussion

A Sketch of Luther’s Political Theology on the Question of Church and State with Reflections concerning the Current Responsibility of the Church in Society by Myung Su Yang

Martin Luther's Theology of Beauty: A Reappraisal by Mark C. Mattes

Review by D.M. Yeager

The “reappraisal” promised in the subtitle of this book is most obviously a reappraisal of Luther’s views concerning beauty.  Mark Mattes intends to establish that Luther is neither a “great foe of beauty” (1) nor the architect of the “disenchantment” of material reality (13).  The author’s larger objective, however, is to deploy Luther’s theology of beauty in a broader reassessment that offers “a new perspective on Luther, one that gives cosmic, historical, and social breadth as a counterweight or balance to the ‘existential’ depth that earlier generations of scholars have so ably described.” 

Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation by J. Philip Newell

Review by Randy Nelson

J. Philip Newell's book, Christ of the Celts is not a new book but its endorsement of Celtic Christianity can remind us that "the matter of creation is a holy and living energy born from the hidden depths of God." (xiv)  At the center of his argument is the conviction rooted in Celtic Christianity that grace "is given to save our nature, not to save us from our nature" (68) because "nature and grace flow together from God.  They are both sacred gifts."