Canada's "blood libel against Christians"; the world's baby shortage; and the Taylor Swift liturgy.
Canada's "blood libel against Christians"; the world's baby shortage; and the Taylor Swift liturgy.
A defining tenet of Lutheranism is the belief that the Word of God, Baptism, and Holy Communion are "means of grace." That is, that God conveys the gospel of Christ and creates faith by these physical means. But to what extent do LCMS members actually believe that? Lyman Stone's study of the denomination investigates that. And the answers will surprise you.
"Supposing you eliminated suffering, what a dreadful place the world would be! I would almost rather eliminate happiness. The world would be the most ghastly place because everything that corrects the tendency of this unspeakable little creature, man, to feel over-important and over-pleased with himself would disappear. . . ."
Delving into the details of the 2023 Lutheran Religious Life Survey. For example, "Converts make up about 32% of self-identified “Traditional” or “Confessional” Lutherans, vs. about 15-25% of other Lutherans."
"'Confessional' churches receive more converts than 'Missional' churches, and 'Traditional' churches receive more converts than 'Contemporary' services." So says a study of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
A new book shows how the Catholic priest Fulton J. Sheen and the Lutheran pastor Walter A. Maier achieved such enormous popularity in the new medium of radio that they made their "foreign religions" acceptable to Americans and helped reverse the decline in American religion known as the "Religious Depression" that in many ways was worse than what we are experiencing today. (A free post) Read more
Originally, the progressive Methodists were supposed to leave. Why the pro-Hamas protesters are targeting liberals. The silent majority of college students.
In questioning the reasons for their protests given by the anti-Israel demonstrators, Carl Trueman sees an underlying nihilism. This "hatred of what is" accounts for a great deal of contemporary thought and culture.
Discuss: “People are now planting bombs in the tramways of Algiers. My mother might be on one of those tramways. If that is justice, then I prefer my mother.” Albert Camus
It may seem that our culture has gone insane, what with transgenderism, political correctness, defunding the police, opposition to having children, and other pathologies. Daniel Henninger, though, believes that the madness has reached its crest and is starting to ebb.