Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 411

The Freedom of a Christian

What’s the best book by Martin Luther to start with?  The answer is simple:   The Freedom of a Christian.  This is Luther at his very best, both in the brilliance of his writing and in his penetrating insight into the Word of God, the Gospel, and the Christian life.   “Freedom” lacks the harsh polemics [...]

Beer wars in Germany

As a sequel to our earlier post on how American-style craft beers are catching on in traditional beer cultures, I offer this account of what is happening in Germany. By Michael Birnbaum in the Washington Post: Almost 65 years after Allied planes flew Western supplies into blockaded Berlin, a new American import is arriving by [...]

On denying the sacrament for “political” reasons

Confessional Lutherans get excoriated for not admitting members of other churches to the Lord’s Supper, though I don’t hear many people complaining when that happens in Catholic or Orthodox churches, which likewise practiced “close communion.” Some Catholics are taking this to another level by refusing to commune politicians who favor abortion.  Some are considering refusing [...]

Court martial for evangelism?

How persecution begins: The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense…Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis…”. The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees [...]

Sports figure comes out of the closet

A noted sports figure came out of the closet.  Not Jason Collins of the NBA saying he is gay.  ESPN commentator Chris Broussard revealing himself to be a Christian, something far more controversial than what Collins did. I like George Neumayr’s piece in the American Spectator with the title “A Sportscaster Comes Out As a [...]

“Lutherans Know Something We Don’t Know”

In the appreciation-for-Lutheranism-by-non-Lutherans department, here is a post by Cap Stewart at Happier Far.  It tells about how he has been helped by the Lutheran distinction between Law and Gospel and, in particular, by the The Lutheran Study Bible: Lutherans Know Something We Don’t Know A Charismatic, a Presbyterian, and a Lutheran walk into a [...]

The morning after abortion pill, over-the-counter

The “morning after” pill, designed to induce abortion immediately after sex, will now be available without a prescription to any female 15 and over.  This, my friends, is bigger than Roe v. Wade. From the Washington Post: The Obama administration on Tuesday approved over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill for ages 15 and above, a [...]

Anti-human philosophies

In my book Modern Fascism, I explore the way various still-respectable strains of modern and post-modern thought–such as certain strains of Romanticism, existentialism, and liberal theology–came together in the various Fascist movements of the early 20th century.  Last weekend I met Robert Zubrin and heard him speak on what the various “anti-human philosophies” that grew [...]

Workers of the world, it’s your day

This is the first of May, celebrated as a spring festival in many cultures as May Day and appropriated by Marxists as the International Workers’ Holiday.  This is the Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving for those who believe religion is the opiate of the people but who still have a need for holidays.  For the importance [...]

Lutheran libertarians

I keep running into conservative, confessional Lutherans (including on this blog) who, in their political ideology, are libertarians.  Could somebody explain how that works, in light of the relatively high view of the state and of temporal authority evident in Lutheran theology (e.g., the orders of creation, the estates, the vocation of citizenship, the Table [...]