Understanding Scripture
“How do we know the Bible is historically accurate?” “How were books of the Bible collected, and how do we know some books weren’t left out?” “Why don’t we consider the Apocrypha a part ...
Four Branches September 2016
Editor’s intro: Welcome to the first edition of The Four Branches newsletter. Grow in Grace (The Institute for Pastoral Growth at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary) is pleased to send you this newsletter once a month to ...
Ancient Christian Doctrine
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. It seems that recently there is a renewed interest in the past, specifically early Christian thought. InterVarsity Press deserves thanks for its role ...
Let the Fire Begin!
Dear Brothers I have a love/hate relationship with the Olympics. As a child I ate it up. I dreamt of being an Olympic swimmer or runner or biker - or whatever competition I had just ...
Preach the Word – July/August 2016
Volume 19, Number 6 Don Patterson is a 1992 graduate of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. He is one of three pastors at Holy Word Lutheran Church, Austin, Texas. He has helped 18 vicars hone their preaching ...
Creeds and Councils
Some people identify themselves as non-creedal Christians. They reject the historic Christian creeds and confessions in favor of what they might call a more “authentic” or “biblical” Christianity. There are also Christians who have ...
Jesus’ To-Do List…or Yours?
It doesn’t seem like a hard question to answer, does it? Is God’s to-do list more important than your to-do list? That’s what we call a no-brainer, right? Not so fast. In the midst of ...
Frederick the Wise
It seems strange that much of the life of one of the men who saved the Lutheran Reformation is, in Wellman’s words, “unseen.” We think we know so much about Frederick the Wise, the ...
Antony of Egypt
In the main part of this book, St. Athanasius (the author) and Friar Haase (the peppy modern paraphraser) present, as a model of “spiritual formation” (19, 21) for us to imitate, the life story ...
Lutherans in America
The subtitle is fascinating: A New History. In our day and age, we have gotten used to getting the “true” story about this, that, or the other historical event or person. Myths (pious or ...