A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
The important social traditions are not just arbitrary customs, which might or might not have survived into the modern world. They are forms of knowledge. They contain the residues of many trials and errors, as people attempt to adjust their conduct to the conduct of others. They exist because they provide necessary information, without which a society may not be able to reproduce itself. Destroy them heedlessly and you remove the guarantee offered by one generation to the next.
Read MoreGottesdienst is on its way! The stallion has bolted from the barn, as our quarterly journal hurries on its appointed journey. Here’s what the beauty looks like:
Read MoreNormally it’s expected of our friend and compatriot Larry Beane to post on our website examples of outrageous and ridiculous things that provide further evidence of the need for Gottesdienst.
Read MoreGiven the current climate that Christians face in this world—a world that has lost its mind—here is a little sanity. It is a good reminder of what the task of the church in general, and her ministers specifically, are charged, yes, commanded, to be, do, and say. “In the world you will have trouble, but take heart (have courage, be bold, speak plainly and forthrightly), for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4—5)? We have overcome the world. Let us act like it!
Read MoreOur school principal purchased this edition of the Vulgate as a gift to our graduating Latin scholars. What was of great interest to me was the piece of paper inside the book’s cover. It included “Special Rules for Bibles or Books Containing Sacred Texts”.
Read MoreChristian rock, in general, sucks. It is bad-cubed: bad theology, bad lyrics, and bad music.
Read MoreObviously, just as not every Jew attacked Jesus and the Church, so it is true that not every boomer is part of the problem - and those who are dissidents against the decay will often join in the criticism of Boomerism. But it is undeniable that there is a demographic culture in which the exception proves the rule.
Read MoreThe Brothers of John the Steadfast have shared President Harrison’s letter with a preliminary report of his investigation of Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor.
Read More“Does/did LCMS missionaries use our liturgy when evangelizing in foreign lands such as Africa, Phillipines and India?”
Read MoreAs last week’s news of the Supreme Court leak unfolded, I was somehow reminded once again of a translation discrepancy in one of the most well-known of Lutheran chorales.
Read More“When did the early church begin to use a liturgical format at least somewhat close to the RCC and what LCMS uses today?”
Read MoreDuring the Gottesdienst conference last week I was once again reminded that without good systematic doctrine exegesis will certainly go astray.
Read MoreA high school athletic director has been thrust into the national spotlight because he prayed in public. He took his case to court, and now, seven years later, the High Court has agreed to hear Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
Read MoreA Look At Sasse, Piepkorn And Webber
Read MoreGod wants weddings to be regarded with honor, in order to attract young people to an honorable marriage in contrast with pollutions of every kind and with promiscuity. Therefore He praises this moderate and honorable display and wanted it recorded. In the eyes of the monks it appears to be luxury. But it was His purpose to bear witness that the finery, the banquets, and the merriment connected with the wedding meet with His approval because of the final cause of marriage, which is the begetting and upbringing of children and the governing of the household, the state, and the church.
Read MoreFilmmaker Brian Holdsworth explains the criteria for music that is appropriate for the Divine Service.
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