Mathew Block

On this day in 1546, Martin Luther fell asleep in the Lord. Lutherans therefore recognize him this day and thank God for him. But let’s be honest: Luther wasn’t always a very nice man. Continue Reading »

As recent remarks from the head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity make clear, not all is well when it comes to the ecumenical project. To make progress, we need to answer one simple question: What is the purpose of ecumenism? Continue Reading »

About a year and a half ago, Mere Orthodoxy published a piece by Hannah Peckham on the oft-quoted expression: “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” It’s frequently attributed online (and in print) to C.S. Lewis, but he never actually said it. In fact, . . . . Continue Reading »

This past Friday, in an interview with a Vancouver reporter, Canada’s Industry Minister James Moore caused a ruckus when he suggested addressing child poverty isn’t the responsibility of the federal government. “Obviously nobody wants kids to go to school hungry,” he said, . . . . Continue Reading »

Lutheran Forum recently came to the end of its 2013 Theological Reading Challenge, with the last document on the reading-list being “The Gospel and the Church” (alternately known as “The Malta Report”). This 1972 document—a production of Lutheran-Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

James R. Rogers’ recent essay “Credit the Calvinists”  asks why Calvinists and not Lutherans have become the public faces of the doctrine of predestination. “For whatever reason,” he writes, “Lutherans are not widely identified with predestinarian . . . . Continue Reading »

Just under two weeks ago, I noted on First Thoughts the news that the province of Quebec was planning to outlaw public employees from wearing overt religious garb. While aspects of the proposed “Charter of Quebec Values” had been leaked, at the time the government hadn’t officially . . . . Continue Reading »

A little while back, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams made headlines for his comments on the persecution (or lack thereof) of Christians in the West. “Persecution is not being made to feel mildly uncomfortable,” he said. “I am always very uneasy when people sometimes in . . . . Continue Reading »

Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was defeated yesterday in his bid for re-election. In his place, the ELCA has elected its first female presiding bishop: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Northeastern Ohio Synod. The election went to a fifth ballot, the . . . . Continue Reading »

In his Confessions , St. Augustine records how a friend of his, the doctor Vindicianus, was instrumental in leading him away from astrology. When St. Augustine asked how, if astrology were false, some of its prophecies nevertheless seemed to come true, Vindicianus chalked it up to luck: an . . . . Continue Reading »