Solutions to Limited Knowledge

Uncategorized
Each one of us has very limited knowledge.  Even the most knowledgeable teacher or professor is not and cannot be a polymath–a person of much learning in all areas.   There is too great a body of knowledge for any one person to have a solid grasp on all of it. …
Read More

Dogma–The Dirty Word

Uncategorized
Dogma is a dirty word to be classed with all the dirty words in the language.  Even more unacceptable is the word, dogmatism, having nothing but a negative meaning in its common use.  Dogma is a wraith compared with the unique infleshness  (Incarnation) of Jesus Christ.  Dogma is disembodied abstraction;…
Read More

The Judgment, Part VII

Uncategorized
The last body of teachings of Jesus is found in Matthew 24 and 25 that concern the end of  the world and the last judgment.  In Chapter 24 Christ recounts the events of the end time, and in Chapter 25 He tells three parables pertaining to our readiness to meet…
Read More

The Forgiveness of Sin–Part VI

Uncategorized
We now move to the fourth section of teaching material in the Gospel of Matthew.  Chapter 18 contains teachings about the forgiveness of sin. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus announces His message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Through Christ comes the invitation to repentance…
Read More

Unanswered Questions to the Last

Uncategorized
Some questions are never answered; thus, the philosophic speculation since the time of the early Ionian Greek thinkers of the fifth century B.C.  Thales is regarded as the first one of these intellectuals and as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.  He thought that all things originated out…
Read More

Humility as the Ground of All Dialogue

Uncategorized
Defense of the faith and witness require a certain attitude with humility at the very center.  Humility, not a pagan virtue, is eminently Christian.  In I Peter, a letter that has been the inspiration for this blog, humility is mentioned near the end where the apostle counsels the members of…
Read More

Personality and Conversion

Uncategorized
Human personality may appear intransigent and unyielding to some perceptive and veteran observers. People simply don’t seem to change; their reactions and behavior throughout their lives are predictable.  Their unchanged behavior shows their unchanged hearts. But, is this true? Change for the better in the character and personality of individuals…
Read More

Parable of the Sower, Seed, and Soils–Part V

Uncategorized
Subscribers, Because of a technical glitch, you did not receive the articles sent to you in December and January (of which there are many).  If you wish to read them, go to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church website (holytrinity.net) under “News and Blog:  The Templeton Project.   We now move…
Read More

The Judgment and Utopia–Part IV

Uncategorized
We have been looking at Matthew 10, where Jesus sends out the Twelve on a mission to Israel in light of the coming of the Son of Man.  The end of the world is the time of the judgment of God. At the beginning of the chapter Jesus instructs the…
Read More