Anselm, friendship, and “how we think about God”


Anselm, friendship, and “how we think about God”

Anselm of Canterbury, under glass Feed your inner philosopher by checking out this column by Nathan Schneider on the “Happy Days” blog at the NY Times. If you want to go further outside the box, check out the provocative religion blog that Schneider edits: Killing the Buddha . Anselm of Canterbury was the eleventh century philosopher and theologian who famously articulated what we now know as his ‘ontological’ proof for God


Ten year-old Dutch prodigy to play Concordia Seminary’s carillon bells


Ten year-old Dutch prodigy to play Concordia Seminary’s carillon bells

Luther Tower, home to Concordia’s landmark carillon TOMORROW (Wednesday, Aug 12) at 7:00PM, Jacob Bodden, a 10 year-old boy from Amersfoort, Holland, will give a free carillon concert at Concordia Seminary . After taking carillon lessons for only a year and a half, Jacob has played concerts at the Belgium Monument in Amersfoort, the Munt Tower in Amsterdam, and the tower in Hilvarenbeek. Last summer, he was interviewed and filmed in Amersfoort for being the youngest carillonneur in the Netherlands


The most trusted man in America


The most trusted man in America

Photo credit: Evan Agostini, AP I’m watching the television tributes to the original news anchorman, Walter Cronkite. Growing up, the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” was a nightly ritual in my family home. And I am remembering that night as a young child when I watched Cronkite sign off (and that’s the way it is) for the last time


Faith and Creative Writing


Faith and Creative Writing

That’s the title of a summer workshop I will be leading later this month (July 27-29) at Concordia Seminary. It’s a topic I’ve studied, talked, and thought about for a long time. Peter Mead, senior editor at Creative Communications for the Parish , will lead some of the presentations too


Call no man happy until he is dead.


Call no man happy until he is dead.

Simon Critchley, in action Philosopher Simon Critchley writes a thought-provoking reflection on happiness on the”Happy Days” blog on nytimes.com . The ancient Greek proverb above is his launching point into thinking about happiness, death, and the prospect of an afterlife


My first Father’s Day as a father


My first Father’s Day as a father

Giotto’s “Saint Francis preaching to the birds” This is my very first Father’s Day as both a son and a father. Other than the blazing heat that feels more like August than June, it has been a very good day. When we found out we were expecting, a good friend and fellow writer who is also a father urged me to write down thoughts and events as much as possible, as a kind of fatherly discipline

Budding Birder

Budding Birder


Budding Birder

How about that! I actually saw a cerulean warbler. But it wouldn’t have happened without some help. At Lost Valley Trail in Weldon Spring, MO, I ran into a more experienced birder who went by the name, Rad

Lutherans and Earth Day

Lutherans and Earth Day


Lutherans and Earth Day

Last year in a little article, “Can Lutherans Observe Earth Day?” I asked if being theologically conservative required us to be politically conservative on social issues like the environment. After all, Luther’s recovery of the Gospel led him to revalue creation as our good home


Animal “rights?”


Animal “rights?”

My colleague, Tim Saleska, put me on to an op-ed in the New York Times regarding a ballot initiative that was passed by Californians to ban certain factory farm practices. In particular, it states that farm animals cannot be confined for their entire lives to cages in which they cannot move

The Vanguard of the New Creation

The Vanguard of the New Creation


The Vanguard of the New Creation

Sometimes I wonder if we conservative Christians have become what might be called second and third article Christians (that is we care only about the second & third articles of the Nicene Creed). In other words, we think of Jesus as the one who gets us to heaven with the result that we then regard creation as of little importance by comparison


Proper 10 · Romans 8:12-17 · July 13, 2008


Proper 10 · Romans 8:12-17 · July 13, 2008

By William W. Schumacher, The texts for Propers 10-12 are consecutive readings from the eighth chapter of Romans, closely related thematically, and therefore can naturally be grouped as a three-week sermon series. All three texts deal profoundly and realistically with a common theme: The struggle of faith in a fallen world. The first part, following this ..