+++ Post by Nathan Rinne +++ Hi. My name is Nathan and I’m out to kill Jack Kevorkian’s World, aka the Culture of Death. I spent a good amount of time on this post because there are very weighty things at stake. If you pay attention to the right places, you’ll see that the themes are now persistent, suffocatingly so. Sometimes, it seems to me like one side came to play and the other didn’t. And really, it’s a bit... Read more
+++ Post by Nathan Rinne The concluding paragraphs of my 2016 essay, “Is Authority Always Constructed and Contextual?A Classical Challenge to the Framework forInformation Literacy,” published in the Christian Librarian (see the actual article for the footnotes to this section): Conclusion: A Proposed Way Forward Clearly anyone endeavoring to explain issues related to authority faces a daunting task. An earlier version of the “Authority is Constructed and Contextual” frame in the [Association of College and Research Library’s] Framework [for Information... Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne Today is the last day of the very popular Minnesota State Fair (you still have several hours to get in on the action!). We went on opening day, a couple of Thursdays ago, and I thank my son Sam for taking the pictures you see in this blog post. The great piece which follows on finding God at the State Fair was written by my pastor, Paul Strawn, in our church’s September newsletter. I hope you... Read more
This month’s Q&A podcast addressed these questions: Did Christ assume a fallen human nature? Should preaching always follow a law/gospel structure? What is the chief end of man? Here is the program. Read more
On today’s program, I discussed the idea of Holy Absolution. I addressed the definition of a sacrament and asked whether Absolution qualified as a third sacrament along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. I then gave a Biblical defense of this practice from Matthew 16, Matthew 18, and John 20. Here is the program! Read more
Today’s podcast was another Q&A program. I discussed a number of topics, including: the Eucharistic sacrifice, the use of the term “priest,” views of the church fathers, and systematic theology textbooks. Here is the podcast. Read more
+++ Post by Nathan Rinne (Note: my last post for a while. Summer break…) Man! I don’t mean that statement as praise of what we today call “human beings”. I mean that both in the sense of quiet exclamation and as a key topic of this post…. I’m talking about W. H. T. Dau’s Preface to C.F.W. Walther’s Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel. Yes, it was written way back in 1928, but nevermind that… I was glad to... Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne +++ Sermon follows. First, prefatory material to set the stage… C.F.W. Walther was a giant. He was the key founder of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LC-MS), and a man of incredible passion for God and His people. In his Pastoral Theology, which was the textbook for all the pastors trained in the Missouri Synod, he offered the following heartfelt plea: …all true Christians are of such a nature that one can accomplish all kinds of... Read more
This week’s podcast is a Q&A program. I answered the following questions: Who are the Nephilim? What is your view of Christians and secular entertainment? If you weren’t Lutheran, what church would you go to? Did Jesus found the Roman Catholic Church? Why is Lutheranism unknown? What is your view of the perpetual virginity of Mary? Here is the program! Read more
Post by Nathan Rinne +++ You should definitely consider it. If you go to an LC-MS, WELS, or ELS Lutheran Church, for example*, you will quite likely be impressed with the service. The Good Friday service is one of the things these “confessional Lutherans” do best. Even if certain congregations from these church bodies, sadly, might not be riveted on the heart of the Christian faith each and every Sunday, chances are very good that on Good Friday they... Read more
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