For centuries, Christians have been taught that the idea that Jesus made atonement for the sins of humanity in his passion and death is firmly rooted in the New Testament. According to most biblical scholars, the basis for this...
Questions Questions
Unedited version of editorial published in Dialog 62,1 (March 2023), pp. 7-11. Do we really need Jesus any more? I mean, is there anything we need Jesus to save us from? It used to be that we needed him to save us from the wrath of a righteous God and eternal...
Chapter 7 Excerpts: Giving Life by Taking It
Rather than seeking to satisfy some need or desire rooted in his own nature, by means of the sacrificial worship he prescribed in the Torah the God of Israel sought to strengthen and reinforce among his people the type of dedication to him and his will that would...
Chapter 8 Excerpts: Purging a Paganized God from the Sins of His Interpreters
Among biblical scholars, the sacrificial offerings and rites for sin or purification prescribed in the Torah or law have generally been understood to have the purpose of making it possible for a holy, just, and righteous God to tolerate and overlook the sins of his...
Chapter 9 Excerpts: Consecrating a People Set Apart for Solidarity
Rather than serving as a means by which a perfectly holy and righteous God was enabled to tolerate and overlook the sins of his people, in biblical thought the sacrificial offerings and rites for sin and purification prescribed in the Torah or law had the purpose of...
Rethinking Justification by Faith: Introduction
Since the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, Christians have been divided over the doctrine of justification by faith. Controversies regarding this doctrine arose when...
Why Does Faith Justify?
Expanded version of a presentation given at theFourteenth International Congress for Luther Research California Lutheran UniversityThousand Oaks, CaliforniaAugust 17, 2022 Of all the teachings of Martin Luther, none is generally considered to be more central to his...
Here We Stand?
Unedited version of editorial published in Dialog 60, 2 (June 2021), pp. 112-116. Five hundred years ago, fully conscious and forewarned of the fate that might await him there, Martin Luther rode into the city of Worms in response to an invitation to appear...
A Thoroughly Jewish Gospel: Rethinking Paul’s Righteousness, Christ-faith, and Works of the Law from within Judaism
What does it mean to interpret Paul from within Judaism? To some extent, the answer to that question seems fairly obvious and self-evident: it means to look to the beliefs, practices, and worldview of the Judaism of Paul’s day as a basis for understanding what he...
An Ever More Critical Dialogue: Table-talking with Paulo Freire on Education and Liberation
Paper presented for the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions UnitAnnual Meeting of the American Academy of ReligionSan Antonio, TexasNovember 20, 2021 While at first glance it might seem that the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther and the...