Book Review: Conversing with Luke and His Two Books

This paper explores Lutheranism as more than a doctrinal system, presenting it as a mode of perception, an ethos, and a lived practice that shapes how individuals engage with themselves, their communities, and the world. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we examine Lutheranism’s foundational doctrines, ethical principles, worship practices, and its critical engagement with social and cultural issues. We highlight key theological concepts such as justification by faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the law-gospel distinction, revealing how these ideas cultivate a worldview rooted in humility, communal responsibility, and grace. Additionally, this paper addresses Lutheranism’s unique contributions to social critique, particularly its stance against authoritarian structures and its advocacy for human dignity. Lutheran worship practices, especially in liturgy and music, are presented as formative experiences that embody Lutheran values, shaping a communal identity while encouraging believers to carry their faith into daily life. In dialogue with Catholic, Orthodox, Reformed, and Evangelical traditions, Lutheranism’s ecumenical spirit emerges, showing its openness to mutual learning and unity within diversity. Ultimately, we present Lutheranism as an ever-adapting tradition that balances continuity with responsiveness to contemporary challenges, offering a practice of faith that is both timeless and transformative. This paper invites readers to consider Lutheranism as a framework for engaging the world through a lens of grace, humility, and critical reflection.

A mong the very few things on which our diverse church can agree is the sorry state of biblical literacy. The complaint comes, not unexpectedly from biblicist precincts, that lay people lack sufficient familiarity, and clergy sufficient facility, with the Bible' s narratives and precepts. Meanwhile, on the "left" comes the rejoinder, not without basis, that the self-styled advocates of scriptural authority construe its contents selectively and self-interestedly, and especially that biblical cries for justice go unheard in favor of a too tidy account of "orthodoxy" and an unreflective fortification of the status quo. And from the academy comes the more recent observation that the standard academic approaches to Scripture are so mired in historical and comparative questions that the results are scarcely useful to the Church at all.

Ecclesial Practices, 2014

The aim of this article is to reflect on an approach and method for practical and prophetic ecclesiology. The article describes the process of planning and using a method at a conference for Church of Sweden suburban parishes. By returning to the conference and the planning process, the account presents the various steps of the broader approach, spells out ecclesiological considerations and analyses results of the conference. Gordon Lathrop's concept, dialogue of holy things, is used to argue for the relevance of using a method based on Gospel narratives in empirical ecclesiology. The results from the conference show that the method could contribute to constructive and critical reflections on theological challenges facing Church of Sweden. The approach is discussed in relation to Theological Action Research and theories developed by Geir Afdal concerning studies of social practices.

Asian and Journal of Pentecostal Studies and APTS Press, 2016

This volume consists of a number of essays originating from an international consultation held by the Lutheran World Federation (hereafter LWF) in 2011, which constituted the beginning of a hermeneutics project aimed at nurturing the “desire to ‘read’ shared sacred texts and contexts,” as Martin Junge explains in the preface (5). In all, ten authors have contributed as many chapters touching on questions related to contextual Lutheran hermeneutics in our contemporary world of rapidly changing, and often quite different, contexts in which faith communities seek to bring the text of Scripture to bear on the concerns arising from within these respective contexts.

God's Two Words: Law and Gospel in the Lutheran and Reformed Traditions, 2018

Common Knowledge, 2002

St. Paul's Publication , 2025

This chapter provides a comprehensive exploration of the Evangelical Counsels as practiced by Saint John of the Cross, focusing on their relevance in modern Christian life. The work begins with a historical context established by Vatican II, emphasizing the call for transformation in religious life to better respond to contemporary societal challenges. The essence of the Evangelical Counsels-poverty, obedience, and chastity-serves as a focal point for understanding how these principles can guide both personal transformation and community engagement in a rapidly modernizing world. Indeed, Saint John of the Cross's writings highlight the profound spiritual commitment required to embody these counsels. Although he did not explicitly address them in traditional formats, his poetry and prose reflect a life steeped in these virtues. The author argues that just as Saint John integrated these counsels into his life and reformation of the Carmelite Order, modern Christians are called to apply similar values through a spirit of detachment and authentic love for God. Overall, the chapter asserts that practicing the Evangelical Counsels allows individuals to engage deeply with their faith and cultivate a transformative relationship with God, leading to a more meaningful participation in the Christian community and the broader world.

000 Church, by and large, whether it"s global or national or local irrespective of denominational tags is immersed with numerous problems. Many may argue the current fiasco that the church is into not new, but similar challenges and problem the church did face perhaps may not be of similar nature or magnitude, nonetheless managed the problems effectively and efficiently and thus cruised through over centuries and still alive and "vibrant". They even go one step further by saying that no other institution or organization or even empires or kingdoms managed to survive the onslaughts, but church is still alive and active because it is founded on the life and witness of Jesus Christ, and therefore, Jesus Christ is foundation and fulcrum of the church. Are these arguments suffice and reasonable? The Universal church and the local church nowadays are at the cross road. Christianity as a religion ought to mirror the Words and Works of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, it reflects the societal ills and the church have hit the new low particularly in recent times that there"s no difference between the church and the society. Some may say that let the Universals takes care of the global concerns and the local church should respond to the local needs and spiritual concerns. However, the Scripture and the Gospel values united along with the creedal and traditional expositions and expressions. Nonetheless, the church is @ crossroads and so intensely caught up with mind-boggling problems. In such a context and background, the church in its life and witness should manifest candidly so that the adherents and the world in which it is place would repose their faith and trust. It is highly imperative that those who are concerned about the Church will have to revisit and reinvent and evolve new strategies and programs so that the church once again comes back and serve in multifarious ways to its constituencies. 001 In every period of history when Christians have faced new conditions, they have looked to the sources of their traditions for new directions… Today, new times demand new directions, so we are driven once more to examine our sources; to discover, if possible, what God is saying to us within the context of our time. Perhaps our first reaction to such a suggestion will be a sense of powerlessness. Is there anything we can do? The odds seem so  Dr. I. John Mohan Razu, Professor of Christian Social Ethics resides in Bangalore.

A presentation on Lutheran ecclesiology. Презентация, посвященная экклесиологии Лютеранской церкви на англ. языке.

Dialog: A Journal of Theology, 2002

Although Lutheran theology is a gift to the historic church, Martin Luther's own views are specifically formulated for their 16 th century context. No universal or timeless theological system based upon Luther's authority should be appealed to. Then theses are here advanced that bridge the 16th and 21st centuries and challenge us to creative construction.