1517 Blogcast

This year I have been trying to understand the cultural phenomenon that is Jordan B. Peterson. Peterson, the Canadian psychologist turned pop-self-help-guru, has been making some waves since 2016. He certainly says some amazingly positive things (as well as some not-so-positive), and has profoundly impacted young men all over the world by telling them to “clean your room.”

This is the eighth installment in our special series on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. Translation of Theses 16, 17 and 18 by Caleb Keith.

Striving for good habits is not an affront to salvation by grace alone, in fact, it is the very consequence of living out the new reality of grace. The new reality and destiny of creation is grace. Grace is the new way of being for the world since, in Christ, God has reconciled the world to Himself and makes all things new through the work of His Son. To say that the new reality is grace is to say that Christ has died for the sins of the whole world and relates to the world as one from that world, the New Adam, giving propitiation to God through the sacrifice of his own self for his people. God becomes man, forever enfleshed, so that God can offer up to God the payment necessary to bridge the eternal distancing of God from His beloved. In defeating sin, the God-Man stands in our place, paying our ransom, not as an outsider but as an insider. Only because He is an outsider can he afford the costly fee insiders could never afford no matter how hard they work.

Sooner or later, most drivers will receive an invitation to traffic court. They must answer guilty or not guilty to an infraction of one or more traffic laws. But it is the judge who sets the fine. Depending on the presiding judge of that particular day, the fine may vary, even if it is for the same infraction. One judge may make a guilty driver pay as much as $425 for running a light, whereas another judge may impose a fine as low as $125. Rolling through a stop sign could be as high as $280, or as low as $100.

Where we see the rubber of ideology meet the road of Christianity is in the way we Christians have distinguished ourselves from one another for the majority of the last 100 years. Most distinctively along the political spectrum of right, left, and center; as either conservative, liberal, or moderate in ideology.

I am not going to give an apology for evolution as a scientific theory. Rather, I am wondering if the normal way of discussing evolutionary science within conservative Christianity has blinded us to certain fruitful uses of the theory.

Law and Gospel preaching has the same structural and improvisational aspects to it. It’s not an activity that comes easily to an untrained hand. But it’s possible to become an adept by learning “the cycle.” There are a melody and rhythm that begin to seep into a preacher’s being by shaping tongue, teeth, and lips to the announcement of mercy for sinners on account of Christ crucified.

In pastoral care, I'm often drawn back into the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector. When someone comes to me because they are troubled, they don't come looking for a quick fix, a pick-me-up, or some plan we concoct together that will hopefully pull them out of their funk. What they crave more than anything is comfort. They want me as their pastor to say God's baptismal promise still holds true for them, despite the accusation of their own heart or the judgment of family and friends. They are still a Christian, still a beloved child of God, and still justified for Christ's sake. When this conversation occurs I direct their attention to the parables, especially to Luke 19:13: And the tax collector, standing far away, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast instead, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me the sinner!’

This is the sixth installment in our special series on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. Translation of Theses 11 and 12 by Caleb Keith.

Sehnsucht is the German word often translated as a “yearning” or “longing.” Psychologists have suggested that it is a multifaceted concept that involves ideas such as bittersweet emotions, utopian ideals, and an introspective lifestyle. We see this theme repeated again and again in myths, music, and stories: something is missing, and humans will try most anything to alleviate—or address—this longing.