Why insist on the Resurrection?

Last updated on: February 22, 2023 at 12:03 pm By Frederick Schmidt

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. The Nicene Creed Moriah Olivia Kathryn Fowler was the beloved daughter of the Rev. Dr. Mark A. Fowler of Evanston, IL. and [the] cherished sister of Ben Fowler of Philadelphia, PA. She was a 2008 graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High School in Lampeter, PA. She was an active participant in the National Honor Society, Marching Band, Concert Band, and school... Read more

Instagram Can’t Give You Absolution

Last updated on: February 10, 2023 at 11:11 am By Frederick Schmidt

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We’ve all been there. We lose the thread of something that was important to us. And we are forced to retrieve, reinvent, or replace the thing we have lost. Often things are never quite the same. We take a job, not because it is a really good fit, but because we were offered money or prestige. We climb the ladder, taking the next big job, and we leave behind what we really liked doing. We get distracted from the core... Read more

Could God have been anywhere else?

Last updated on: February 6, 2023 at 8:47 am By Frederick Schmidt

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Recounting an execution at Auschwitz Concentration Camp where he was a prisoner, Ellie Wiesel writes: Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing… And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close... Read more

How can the church address the sin of slavery?

Last updated on: February 6, 2023 at 6:24 am By Frederick Schmidt

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Exhibition lays bare Church of England’s links to slave trade The news that the Church of England had links to the slave trade comes as no surprise. Anyone who knows even a little bit about the history of slavery knows that everyone from the Prince Regent down made money off of slavery. It was a global phenomenon. Though slavery’s predicates varied, civilizations around the world had practiced it for millennia, and its tentacles spread through human history in tragic, strange... Read more

Stained Glass Language: Salvation & the Incarnation

Last updated on: January 30, 2023 at 10:15 am By Frederick Schmidt

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Every Sunday in worship, we repeat these words from the Nicene Creed: For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For us and for our salvation. Salvation. I look back over the thousands of times that I have heard people use that word – that bit of stained-glass language – and I wonder, do we even know what salvation... Read more

When Life Sucks

Last updated on: January 23, 2023 at 2:29 pm By Frederick Schmidt

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This last weekend marked the tenth anniversary of my younger brother’s death. He was a husband, father, and gifted orthopedic hand surgeon, whose life was defined by exacting skill in the name of compassionate care. An aggressive brain tumor and, ultimately, a devastating fall claimed first his career and then his life. I don’t believe that such tragic losses are God’s will for us. I do believe that as we place our lives back into God’s hands on such occasions,... Read more

The Nicene Creed: We believe in one God…maker of heaven and earth”

Last updated on: January 19, 2023 at 9:45 am By Frederick Schmidt

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The Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325AD and it has been at the heart of Christian worship and self-understanding for centuries. The word, creed, is based upon the Latin word, credo, which means “I believe”. But the Nicene Creed is more than a statement of beliefs. It is a series of convictions that can only be understood by living out their implications This morning we will focus on the opening lives of the Creed focus on God as Father... Read more

Repentance is not The Hotel California

Last updated on: January 9, 2023 at 7:05 am By Frederick Schmidt

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Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” (Mt 3:13-15) One of my professors described the task of interpreting Matthew as akin to nailing jello to the wall. I’m inclined to... Read more

Wishing You a Very Merry Unsentimental Christmas

Last updated on: January 3, 2023 at 7:47 am By Frederick Schmidt

Let me put what I am about to say in context. I love Christmas, and I am hopelessly sentimental about it. One of my fondest childhood memories is the big unveiling of the Christmas tree that my parents staged every Christmas morning when I was a child. And I still enjoy it all: I enjoy shopping for Christmas gifts. We have three trees (two of them are small): what we call, a toy tree, the book tree (big surprise there),... Read more

An Advent Reflection: Family as the School of the Gospel

Last updated on: January 3, 2023 at 7:43 am By Frederick Schmidt

The title of my dissertation was “Ethics and Eschatology in Selected Apocalyptic Literature and the Teaching of Jesus”. Now and then I was asked what I was working on by family, friends, and the occasional stranger. I only attempted to describe that title once. After that, I simply responded, “Jesus”. One of the great gifts of modern academic work is specialization, the process of learning more and more about less and less. The process has its strengths. It allows a... Read more