A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Ecumenism

  • Lutherans, Methodists, and open communion

    On paper I’m still an ELCA Lutheran, but I’ve been attending a United Methodist congregation for the last couple of years, so this news from the ELCA’s recent church-wide assembly is of interest to me. A resolution was passed during the assembly to initiate a process looking at the church’s practices of administering communion, particularly Read more

  • Cautious optimism about the new pope

    Look, I’m a Protestant, so no pope is ever going to satisfy me. And I totally get that progressive Catholics would be upset by the same-old, same-old on women’s rights, LGBT rights, and other issues about which the Catholic hierarchy remains steadfastly conservative. But there are reasons for cautious optimism about Pope Francis (né Cardinal Read more

  • On ecumenism and the unity of the church

    There’s a bit of hubbub in the theo-blogosphere about ecumenism and the unity of the church (e.g., at Inhabitatio Dei and An und fur sich). I haven’t given this a ton of thought because I think ecclesiology is boring, but, for what it’s worth, I see the unity of the church as having two aspects. Read more

  • Throne and Altar

    A troubling article on the treatment of Protestant “sects” under a regime of strengthening ties between the Orthodox Church and the Russian state. Russophile Fr. Chris has some comments here. Read more

  • Items of interest from the JLE

    From this month’s Journal of Lutheran Ethics: First, an article on the neglect of spiritual practices in the ELCA and how, if the church doesn’t offer pathways to intimacy with God, people will seek them elsewhere. I can definitely sympathize with this. As someone who (re)turned to Christian faith as a young(ish) adult I was Read more

  • More stuff I haven’t read yet

    An ecumenical symposium of sorts at First Things on the Blessed Virgin Mary: Edward T. Oakes, S.J. J. I. Packer T. M. Moore Cornelius Plantinga Jr. Matthew Levering Read more