About the Templeton Project

The Templeton Committee met for the first time on October 21, 2015.  Pastor Michael Tavella had received a $5000 grant from the John Templeton Foundation through the auspices of Earl Whipple, a staff member of the organization and a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.  The grant will be used to develop a manual for churches and individual Christians on how we should conduct ourselves when in conversation with atheists and others who do not attend Church (the “nones”), either one on one or in a public forum.  The biblical basis for the project is I Peter 3:  15b-16.  The proposal includes field testing the manual in church adult classes and then holding at least one public forum in which Christians and non-Christians  dialogue with one another. These conversations will constitute a Christian defense of the faith (ἀπολογία, apologia, English-apology) and a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From O my God to O my God to OMG

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You’ve probably heard it–OMG, three letters, is like so many other things referred to with three letters–CIA, IRS, FBI, WHO, AOL, MSN, NBC, CBS, ABC, BBB, FCC, HIV, MTV, MSG, HCL, thus QED.  All these acronyms are acceptable in usage, if people you are speaking to know what they mean.…
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It is I

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“It is I” are words pertaining to divine presence.  At the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was walking toward the hard-pressed disciples in the boat.  They were afraid, not so much from the strong wind on the water, but from Jesus whom they thought was a ghost.  He responded to them…
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O Source and End

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O my ecstasy, O my delight, O my bliss, O my beatitude, O my felicity, O Source of all that is good, O Source of all that is worthy, O Source of my being and well-being, O Source from the height, O Source from the depth, O Source of life…
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Apologetics, Apology, and Witness

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I’m taking this opportunity to clarify the meaning of three words I have often used in the foregoing articles. Apologetics  is an ongoing literary and theological endeavor to present a defense of the Christian faith to non-believers and atheists. Apologetics can also be helpful to those inside the church.  Evangelization…
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Worship as Witness and Apology

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In I Peter the Church is richly described as a “chosen race,  a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his (God’s) own possession.”  And it has this identity “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”  (I Peter…
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Judgment and Apologetics

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At the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Romans after the greeting, Paul writes of the wrath of God.  He states, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:  18 ESV)  Though God…
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Obstacles to Christian Witness

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Below are some obstacles to Christian witness and conversion to the faith.  They are listed in two categories:  personal: emotional/intellectual and public/institutional.   Personal Factors Hardship and suffering in life including illness; loss of friends and loved ones, especially to death; disappointment in life goals; betrayal; anxiety from fear of…
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Virtual or Virtuous?

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The virtual environment has become pre-eminent in American life.  Young and old spend an enormous amount of time in front of a computer screen.  The word, virtual, in its use has become almost completely identified with the computer age in which we live.  Virtual is opposite the real physical environment. …
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Kensington II

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Some time ago, a young man approached me on the street to show me a picture of Christ rendered by Rembrandt.  He asked me, who is this?  Such was a perfect time for witness.  What would you have done in this situation?  We must always be ready to witness to…
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What is New is Old; What is Old is New

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The beginning of the Gospel according to Saint Mark does not include a birth story.  Accounts of the birth of Jesus are found in Matthew and Luke.  After the superscription in this shortest and oldest of the gospels are found passages from Exodus, Malachi, and Isaiah in the Old Testament…
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