How Lutherans View the Reformation Differently

Last updated on: November 2, 2017 at 9:45 am By Gene Veith

Some of my fellow Lutherans are sick to death of all of the hype around the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, which is tomorrow. They read all of the media coverage and internet posts and see so many different versions of Luther’s contributions and the results of the Reformation that they can scarcely recognize. This is because Lutherans have a distinctive take on the Reformation, one that is different from that of both secularists and other Christians.

As a public service and in honor of the anniversary tomorrow, I will list some of the Lutheran differences when it comes to understanding the Reformation.

I. Reforming the church is not the same as starting a new church. There is a difference between fixing up a house that has fallen into disrepair and tearing down the house and building a new one. For Lutherans, the “Reformation,” as the word implies, meant reforming things that had gone wrong in the church. Later Protestants threw out virtually everything from the medieval church and started new churches from scratch.

Thus, Lutheran worship took the liturgy and removed prayers to the saints, references to Purgatory, and other elements that pointed away from Christ. But most of the liturgy remained. There was nothing wrong with the creeds. Or the introit Psalm. Or liturgical set-pieces like the Gloria in Excelsis or the hymn to the “Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.” Later Protestants threw out the entire historic liturgy, coming up with completely new approaches to worship. These Protestants typically claimed that “Luther didn’t go far enough” and that “Lutherans are too Catholic.” But the difference is between “reformation” and “demolition.”

II. Luther didn’t split the church. The pope did. Luther is credited or blamed for splitting what was once a unified Christian church. When Luther posted his 95 theses, he was drawing attention to clear abuses, financial corruption, and theological confusion. That his complaints were valid is demonstrated by the Roman Catholic church eventually changing the specific practices to which Luther was originally objecting. True, one issue led to another. The only way Luther’s objections could be defended was by saying the indulgence sales had the pope’s authority. To which Luther countered that the authority of the Bible was greater. Indulgences also raised issues about salvation–do Christians need to be punished in Purgatory for sins that have been forgiven?–and the meaning of God’s grace and Christ’s atonement.

But at first the issue was the sale of indulgences. Pope Leo X, who had a financial interest in the sale, responded to Luther’s objections not by thoughtfully considering them or assigning theologians to study the issue, but by excommunicating Luther and those who agreed with him.

What were Luther and the Lutherans to do then? Stop worshipping? They set up ecclesiastical structures separate from the pope’s authority. But the excommunication is what split the unified church. Luther and company were happy to remain in the church, but they were thrown out.

This was not the first time the pope split the church. He did it earlier in the “Great Schism” of 1054, in which the Eastern church (which would go by the name of “Orthodox”) and the Western church (which would go by the name of “Catholic”) went their separate ways. The different issues came together in the Bishop of Rome’s extraordinary powers and authority that he was claiming for himself, which were unknown in the early church. Ever since then, the Orthodox have been pope-less, a precedent that the Lutherans pointed to.

III. The Bible wasn’t translated so that individuals could interpret it for themselves. I once heard the Lutheran theologian David Jay Webber comment that “Lutherans resist interpretation.” You don’t read the Bible so that you can make up your own theology. You read the Bible for a confrontation with God. Today’s charismatics and Pentecostals look for a direct experience with the Holy Spirit, which they construe as indwelling the believer and then bubbling up in supernatural gifts. Lutherans believe the Holy Spirit comes from the outside, and that you can experience Him and receive His gifts of faith and sanctification by reading or hearing God’s Word.

The Lutheran idea of Christianity is not individualistic, private, interior, or churchless. The doctrines of Christianity are drawn from the Bible–which Lutherans refuse to turn into a rationalistic, paradox-free system–but these are confessed by the church and are not subject to individual interpretation.

IV. The Reformation did not replace Sacramental Christianity. Luther’s Reformation was about strengthening sacramental Christianity. Baptism does not just wash away original sin and the sins committed before Baptism, after which you must resort to the rite of penitence ; rather, in the words of George Herbert, Baptism “measures all my time.” Lutherans retained confession and absolution, not as a separate sacrament, but as a function of Baptism, since sins are forgiven using the Baptismal formula, “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Furthermore, sins that have been forgiven do not require “temporal punishment” in Purgatory. To Lutheran Reformers, Holy Communion is not a new sacrifice of Christ, to be received only by those who have been shriven of their sins and are in a state of purity; rather, it is Christ giving His Body and His blood “for you,” to the sinner, for remission of sins. Lutheran Reformers did not see marriage as a sacrament, but as a vocation, open to all, including priests and nuns. It is most emphatically not an inferior path for the less spiritual, as it was taken in the medieval church.

The efficacious Word of God, added to a visible element, is what makes a Sacrament. And the Word and the Sacraments create, sustain, and nourish faith in Jesus Christ. And faith in Christ–His person, His perfect life, His atoning death, and His resurrection–is the means of our justification.

Are there other distinctly Lutheran understandings of the Reformation?

Photo by sharonang, via Pixabay, CC0, Creative Commons

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Liturgy in the Bible/The Bible in the Liturgy

Last updated on: October 23, 2017 at 7:03 pm By Gene Veith

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Contrary to what some people say, there is liturgy in the Bible. Moreover, the Bible is in the liturgy. In fact, nearly all liturgical texts are passages taken directly from the Bible.

At Jonathan Aigner’s Patheos blog on worship, Ponder Anew, Les Lamkin wrote a post entitled But There’s No Liturgy in the Bible! He goes on to show that big portions of Scripture–such as those that give exhaustive instructions for worship in the Tabernacle and the Temple–are taken up with God’s commandments about how worship should be conducted and describing ceremonial liturgies.

In this guest post, Mr. Lamkin, a musician, sums up his point:

God instituted ceremonies and sacrifices for worship in Leviticus. The sacrifices typically ended with a “communion” meal involving the worshiper who offered the sacrifice, the priest and any other worshipers present. All the sacrifices described were followed throughout the history of Israel.

David introduced an element of personal lyricism and devotion into worship with the Psalms. The sacrifices continued.

The prophets corrected deviations in worship.

The first Christians, all Jews, continued to worship in the temple, but found in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus the culmination, the fulfillment, of the sacrifices instituted in Leviticus. Jesus himself instituted a new communion meal, the Eucharist.

The church of the first and second centuries continued the practices faithfully. We can find records of their practices in the writings of the early Church Fathers.

True, we are no longer bound by Old Testament worship. But the principle remains. Temple sacrifices point ahead to the sacrifice of Christ, God’s true Temple who is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ fulfills the whole of the Law, so the ceremonial laws are all superseded. But that God ordained liturgies proves that He is not opposed to them. And those Old Testament sacrifices, washings, and sacred meals–all taking place in the actual presence of God–did help to shape Christian worship in Word and Sacraments, which likewise proclaim the Gospel of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. (See Arthur Just, Heaven on Earth: The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, which describes how Christian worship developed out of synogogue worship, which, in turn, developed out of Levitical worship.)

But not only is there liturgy in the Bible. The Bible is in the liturgy! Not only in the three extensive Bible readings from the Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels every Sunday, with the sermon that exposits them. But also in just about every liturgical text except for the confession of sins, creed, and the prayers (all of which are based on God’s Word and often reflect its language).

Here are the set-pieces of the liturgy and the Biblical texts they recite:

Invocation [“in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”]: Matthew 28:19.

Introit: a Psalm

Kyrie [“Lord have mercy. . . ] Mark 10:47

Gloria in Excelsis [“Glory to God in the highest. . .”] Luke 2:14; John 1:29

Offertory [“Create in me a clean heart. . .”] Psalm 51:10-12

Sanctus [“Holy, holy, holy. . . “] Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 21:9

Lord’s Prayer [“Our Father who art in heaven. . .’} Matthew 6:9-13

Words of Institution [“Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed. . .”] Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Cor 11:23-25

Agnus Dei [“O Christ, thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world. . .”] John 1:29

Nunc Dimittis [“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. . .”] Luke 2:29-32

Benediction [“The Lord bless you and keep you. . .”] Numbers 6:24-26

Even the brief responses are generally lines from Scripture. [“The Lord be with you” (2 Timothy 4:22); “Lift up your hearts” (Colossians 3:1); “Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God” (Psalm 1:36); “Bless we the Lord” (Psalm 103:1).]

I realize that not all Christians worship with the liturgy and that different theologies of worship will manifest themselves in different practices. What I object to is some of the criticism that I hear about the liturgy; for example, that it’s idolatrous, that it’s the traditions of man, that it’s not authentic, etc., etc.

When I hear that kind of thing, I want to ask, “What portions of the Bible that we say or sing in church do you object to?”

Photo of the altar at St. John’s Lutheran Church by Leon Brooks [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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The New Edition of Luther’s Small Catechism

Last updated on: October 17, 2017 at 5:43 pm By Gene Veith

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Concordia Publishing House has just released Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, 2017 Edition. This updates the blue book familiar to confirmands, published in 1991 with 296 pages, with even more Biblical prooftexts, more educational and devotional resources, and applications to contemporary issues. The new edition comes in at 432 pages.

Technically, I am told, the word “catechism” refers to the texts that have been fundamental to Christian instruction since the days of the early church: the Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer, supplemented with the Bible passages on the Sacraments.

Then there is the supplemental material that comments upon, explains, and applies those Biblical and creedal texts. Using the pedagogy of classical education, which teaches understanding on the logic level by means of “dialectic”–that is, leading questions designed to elicit insightful answers–the catechisms offered a series of questions designed to answer the question, “What does this mean?” These educational questions and answers became part of the various “catechisms” that have been used by various churches.

The Ten Commandments, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer can still be found in the various Roman Catholic and Reformed catechisms, but those texts are somewhat buried in the plethora of questions. These are organized in various ways, in accord with each tradition’s systematic theology. (Note the structures described in these entries for the Catholic Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Heidelberg Catechism.) Luther’s version, in keeping with his focus on the Word, presents the Biblical and creedal texts, each part of which the questions and answers elucidate. Thus the authoritative texts provide the structure for the catechism.

Both the Catholic and the Reformed catechisms treat first the Creed, then the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer, both of which come under the rubric of the Christian life. Luther, on the other hand, changed the order, beginning with the Law (the Ten Commandments), followed by the Gospel (the Creed), followed by the Christian life (the Lord’s Prayer, along with the Sacraments and, in the Table of Duties, Vocation).

But Luther’s questions and answers, as profound as they are, are still quite brief. CPH has also published those in a 32-page-pamphlet.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has long supplemented Luther’s words with additional material for confirmands and adult members to chew on. This is the “Catechism with Explanation.” The first version was prepared by Heinrich Schwan, the third president of the LCMS, in 1896, translated from the German into English in 1905. Revisions and additions, which still keeping much of Schwan’s material, were featured in a new edition in 1943. This, in turn, was updated in 1991.

So now, 26 years later, we have a new update. The revision process included making the new material available throughout the LCMS for review, critique, and suggestions. I myself offered a few regarding the explanations of the doctrine of vocation, among others. I don’t know if my suggestions were incorporated or not. I haven’t read the new edition yet, so I can’t speak to the specifics. But I’m sure this new edition will be of service to the church for at least another quarter century.

A big development in catechesis is realizing that the Catechism is not just for children, and it’s not just a doctrinal textbook. Rather, it is a rich devotional text for all Christians. As Luther said,

I am also a doctor and preacher; yes, as learned and experienced as all the people who have such assumptions and contentment. Yet I act as a child who is being taught the catechism. Every morning—and whenever I have time—I read and say, word for word, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms, and such. I must still read and study them daily. Yet I cannot master the catechism as I wish. But I must remain a child and pupil of the catechism, and am glad to remain so. (Preface to the Large Catechism)

Illustration from CPH.

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Why Leftists Are Now Silencing Liberals

Last updated on: October 15, 2017 at 4:34 pm By Gene Veith

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Campus leftists have long been silencing conservative speakers. Now they have started to silence liberal speakers. Students at William & Mary shouted down and forced the cancellation of a speech by an official of the American Civil Liberties Union. The incident is a reminder that hardcore leftists, by their own admission, don’t believe in civil liberties, free speech, or freedom in general, which they deride as “liberal bourgeois values.”

Last month, Claire Gastañaga, executive director of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was invited to speak at her alma mater on the topic “Free Speech on Campus.” She was met by hordes of students interrupting her presentation in the name of Black Lives Matter, though a look at the video of the event shows that most of the protesters were white. (See this for details about the event, including a video.)

Here are some of the protesters’s chants and signs:

“The revolution will not uphold the constitution.”

“Liberalism is white supremacy.”

“ACLU, you protect Hitler, too.”

“The oppressed are not impressed.”

The protesters successfully shut down the speech, then went so far as to physically prevent students from so much as going up to talk to Gastañaga, afterwards driving everyone else away.

The protesters were objecting to the ACLU’s practice of defending unpopular speech, including that of klansmen and neo-Nazis. The impeccably liberal ACLU holds to the belief that the First Amendment guarantee of free speech applies even to klansmen and neo-Nazis, who have certain “human rights” and so are entitled to civil liberties.

But being liberal is not enough. “Liberalism is white supremacy.” And the protesters repudiate the notion of constitutional rights. “The revolution will not uphold the constitution.”

Radical leftists do not believe in free speech. They just don’t. Earnest appeals to the academic principle of the free exchange of ideas carry no weight with these people. Invocations of academic freedom are enlightened, idealistic, and liberal. But radical leftists are not liberal.

This is not an accusation against leftists. This is what their ideology teaches them.

According to Marxism and the currently dominant Neo-Marxism (in which the oppression of other collective groups–such as racial minorities, women, homosexuals, etc.–take the place of Marx’s emphasis on economic classes), the bourgeois revolution overthrew the medieval feudal system. The rise of the middle class (the French word for which is “bourgeoisie”) enshrined the values of individualism, equality, democracy, freedom, human rights, and “bourgeois morality.” These ideas, which benefited bourgeois capitalists, came about through specific revolutions: the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and (interestingly) the Reformation. Relics of this revolution include the U.S. Constitution. Protestant churches, the nuclear family, etc.

But the bourgeois order is also oppressive. Marx condemned the property-owning class for oppressing the working class. Neo-Marxists, who share his hatred of capitalism, also object to men oppressing women, whites oppressing blacks, and heterosexuals oppressing gays. The new revolution will overthrow the bourgeois order with all of its values, putting into power those who are currently “marginalized.”

Free speech, freedom of religion, civil liberties, democracy, the Constitution, human rights, etc., will have no place in the new social order.

Meanwhile, in the current revolutionary struggle, the bourgeois values are to be resisted, subverted, and overthrown. In the struggle, you support your faction, attacking your collectivist enemies with any means necessary.

Political and social “liberals” are part of the bourgeois order. Such progressives may be “fellow-travellers” with the radicals, to a certain extent. They may show a degree of sympathy to the oppressed. But, as every Marxist revolution has shown, they too will eventually be liquidated.

This is why Marxist regimes–such as the Soviet Union, East Germany, Cuba, China–did not allow free speech or freedom of any kind. They were seeking to create a collective kind of existence, in which individuals find their fulfillment in identification with the group they belong to (a tenet of Marxism fulfilled to an even greater extent with Neo-Marxism).

And this is why Leftists today, as seen in their safe havens on university campuses but also in their increasingly common political demonstrations, are quite willing to shut down the opposition by shouting down speakers and even committing violence.

Meanwhile, liberals–who may feel sympathy with the radicals and even be enticed to join their ranks–will also sooner or later find themselves targeted.

Illustration, “Revolution,” via Pixabay, CC0, Creative Commons

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Our “Astonishing,” “Scintillating, “Daring” Book

Last updated on: October 10, 2017 at 7:14 pm By Gene Veith

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I was amazed by the endorsements of the book that Trevor Sutton and I have just published, Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to the Postmodern World–both the caliber of the people whom CPH got to read the manuscript and the kind things that they said. I was especially gratified and amused by the words they used to describe it: “scintillating,” “daring,” “provocative,” “enlightening,” “astonishing,” “engaging,” “marvelous,” “refreshing.”

I feel embarrassed pushing our book, but I think readers of this blog, overall, would like it. All of this praise I will deflect to Trevor.

Endorsements for Authentic Christianity:

“Gene Veith was one of the first Lutherans to engage postmodernism over twenty years ago. Now he teams up with Pastor Trevor Sutton to use Lutheran theology—particularly the chief article of justication by faith alone—to provide readers with a robust and thoughtful apologetic. I was especially pleased with the authors’ use of the work of the counter- Enlightenment thinker Johann Georg Hamann in articulating a response to Postmodernism. Theological themes of Christology, biblical interpretation, Law and Gospel, vocation, sanctification, and the two kingdoms are aptly covered. This book will spark conversations and fuel a more confident Christian witness in our day.”

—Rev. John T. Pless Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry & Missions; Director of Field Education, Concordia eological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN

“This book shows that we now live in a post-secular world where anti-Christian attitudes have no privileged stance for setting the agenda for public discourse. It is high time that Lutherans roll up their sleeves, and like Paul in Athens share the Gospel in the agora of ideas. Veith and Sutton demonstrate that unlike Puritan, Revivalist, or Roman Catholic views of Christian faith, Lutherans are well positioned to share God’s Good News to a world fragmented by modernity and postmodernity.”

—Dr. Mark Mattes Chair, Department of Philosophy and eology, Grand View University, Des Moines, IA

“I’m convinced that the best way to understand another tradition is to listen to its most articulate, informed, and passionate advocates. This book certainly fits that bill for those who want to understand Lutheranism. You don’t have to agree with everything (I don’t!) to appreciate the rich delights that Luther and his spiritual heirs bring to the feast.”

—Dr. Michael Horton J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic eology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California; co-host of the White Horse Inn, and author of Core Christianity

“ This scintillating study, which combines the literary and cultural expertise of Veith with the historical and theological wisdom of Sutton, shows how classical Lutheranism addresses the concerns of the post- modern world in a surprising way. It is daring in its claim that Lutheran theology does full justice to the paradoxes of God’s revelation and human life, provocative in its conviction that Lutheran practice unites what is separated in other denominations, and enlightening in its clear exposition and apt use of fresh illustrations.”

—Dr. John W. Kleinig, professor emeritus at the Australian Lutheran College (formerly Luther Seminary) in the University of Divinity, Adelaide, Australia

“Half a century after Luther’s Reformation, Protestantism seems hopelessly in decline. God has been banished from objective reality. The Gnostic heresy denying the significance of the body is experiencing a resurgence, to wit feminist theology. Yet, in this astonishing book, Gene Veith and Trevor Sutton boldly and brilliantly argue that in the next 500 years an authentic church will survive, but as a Metachurch, a church beyond the church, and it will have a distinctly Lutheran flavor stressing God’s Word, His nearness, His presence in the Sacraments and every Christian’s priesthood rooted in the divine purpose found in his everyday work.”

—Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto, Director Emeritus, The League of Faithful Masks, Capistrano Beach, CA

“The Holy Christian Church has always had both its resident Deceivers and Truth Tellers, or those skilled at promoting the doctrines of man versus the doctrines of God. Regardless of motivation, the end result is always defense and support of either heterodoxy or orthodoxy. To countervail heterodoxy, idolatry, and heresy, God the Holy Trinity has unfailingly raised up Christian Parrhesiasts who witness yet once again to the Holy Scriptures as the final authority on matters of doctrine. Dr. Veith is one of those Truth Tellers. I cannot recommend highly enough his new book Authentic Christianity; he and Pastor Sutton skillfully sort out the pillars of truth from the pillars of falsehood. This monograph is consistently engaging from cover to cover.”

—George V. Strieter, Publisher, Ballast Press TM

“Veith and Sutton partner to bring forward a rich in detailed history, systematically sound, and a complete practical approach to our Lutheran theology as applied to the world yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Authentic Christianity is informative, thought provoking, and easily accessible. For those wondering how our Lutheran Confessions compare to other denominations, this is the resource for you. It will be the go-to reference material for Christians to fully understand how we are to live out our vocations as faithful Christ followers. Authentic Christianity comes at just the right time, the 500th Anniversary for the Reformation. What better time to clarify and confess our faith? Kudos to Veith and Sutton, job well done at just the right time.”

—Rev. Eric Ekong, Senior Pastor, Trinity Lutheran Ministries, Jackson, MI

“Culture has changed; Lutheran theology has not. As a result, Lutheran theology must not be adjusted to keep up with the times but be reintroduced to individuals, people who are often tossed around by the waves of every cultural ideology. And that is just what Veith and Sutton have done in this marvelous book. Whether you are a spiritual nomad looking for truth or a lifelong Lutheran, this book speaks Lutheran theology— Authentic Christianity—to people with postmodern ears and individuals learning to navigate within this new culture. This excellent book is a superb tool for recovering the Authentic Christianity of the past while embracing and applying it to whatever lies before us.”

—Rev. Dr. Matthew Richard, Zion Lutheran Church, Gwinner, ND; Author of Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? 12 False Christs

“Veith and Sutton show that Christianity is not a product of human experience but founded on God’s revelation. Addressing the contemporary forms of Christianity that have failed to reach the rising tides of postmoderns, the authors contend for an authentic Lutheranism that can make sense of people’s suffering and give lives meaning for today and eternity. The answer is not yet another ‘style’ of Christianity. Instead, Veith and Sutton boldly call for a ‘new’ Reformation that is a continuation of Lutheranism’s first principles: God’s justifying Word, life-giving Sacraments, and the purpose of the individual’s divine callings.”

—Rev. Christopher S. Esget, LCMS Sixth Vice-President Senior Pastor, Immanuel Ev.-Lutheran Church, Alexandria, VA

“Engaging, in the truest and freshest sense of that word; that’s what Veith and Sutton provide for us here in at least three ways. First, while many thinkers neatly engage textbook worldviews that are difficult to find in real life, this book tackles the messy fluidity of this world’s ‘prettified gods.’ Second, while many Christians nowadays propose withdrawal from the world as the best option for dealing with evil, these authors contrastingly assert that faith is realized and fulfilment is found as we engage virtuously within the arenas of real life. Finally, conscientious readers will embrace the Holy Spirit’s lure in this book to engage personally in enduring questions such as: ‘Why am I really here?’ ‘What is real freedom for?’ and ‘Who is my neighbor?’”

—Rev. Dr. John Arthur Nunes, President, Concordia College New York

“This book is a refreshing re-presentation of the full power of the Lutheran proclamation of the Gospel for the sake of the Church and the world in which we all live. For the layperson, the pastor, the scholar, or the seeker, if you are looking for a book that roots and strengthens your faith as well as one that demonstrates the power of the life of faith lived out in the world of today, then this book is for you!”

—Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, Executive Director, the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty Speaker of The Lutheran Hour, Emeritus

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Our New Book on Lutheranism and the Postmodern Condition

Last updated on: October 10, 2017 at 9:53 am By Gene Veith

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The book that I wrote with Trevor Sutton releases today. It’s called Authentic Christianity: How Lutheran Theology Speaks to a Postmodern World (Concordia Publishing House).

The book shows how Lutheran Christianity is uniquely situated to address the contemporary mind, torn as it is between modernism and postmodernism. Not only do people today have difficulty thinking about “God,” they also have difficulty believing in objective, material reality–we show how a Lutheran perspective can clarify both the spiritual and the physical realms by showing how they relate to each other.

We also talk about such classic topics as justification, the atonement, sanctification, the incarnation, and the sacraments in ways that you might not have thought about before, showing how these teachings directly address the spiritual struggles of people today.

This is also true of some distinctly Lutheran teachings. The Theology of the Cross speaks to the trials of contemporary life and the futile attempts to evade them through consumerism or the prosperity gospel. Lutheran Christology answers the problem of suffering and the problem of evil. The doctrine of the Two Kingdoms shows Christians how to live positively in the secular world. And the doctrine of Vocation shows how ordinary life can be charged with meaning.

Here is the Editorial Description on Amazon.com:

Burnt-out believers and spiritual secularists have given up any hope that an engaging and meaningful spirituality can be found in a single Christian denomination. So rather than attending worship at a local church, they attend to their spiritual needs elsewhere. Instead of being fed by a single denomination, they feast upon a smorgasbord of spiritual beliefs. And while these disaffected believers have not rejected the existence of God or the need for meaningful spirituality, they have strongly rejected whatever it is they think the church today has to offer.

To counter this trend, churches across America are constantly updating their culture to accord with the culture outside the church. But is this the best framework for recovering authentic Christian spirituality?

Authentic Christianity offers another idea – that the Lutheran tradition embodies a framework of Christianity that uniquely addresses the postmodern condition. It does so not by being “emergent” or by making up a new approach to church or to the Christian life. Rather, it does so in an unexpected way: by being confessional, sacramental, and vocational.

Authentic Christianity is a collaboration between an academic of the Boomer generation and a young Millennial pastor. Coming from two very different places – different generations, different vocations, different entries into Lutheranism – authors Gene Veith and Trevor Sutton offer their unique perspectives on how Lutheran theology engages contemporary life.

You can buy it here in paperback or Kindle.

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