Lutherans in Lithuania

In Lithuania, when it comes to tracing political history, border lines, or even the establishment of a church founded by Lutheran “heretics”, nothing is ever simple to keep in order. The details are complex...

Smalcald Articles Study: The Papacy

Luther states that the papacy demands obedience to itself (to the pope) and to whatever is said from that office of pope, even to the point of tying salvation to that obedience. What is the true Gospel?

Saints’ Days in the Lutheran Tradition

Most people know that St. Valentine’s Day is on February 14 and St. Patrick’s Day is on March 17.  But do you know what the date is for St. Matthew’s Day?  Or St. Joseph’s Day?

The Marriage Booklet in the Catechism

The culture increasingly maintains that marriage is man’s institution. Thus marriage can be defined according to the shifting winds of popular opinion, and ultimately government mandate. This is to rob marriage of any real objective meaning.

Bible Study with Luther: Genesis 6-8

Because we believe that this world will end and our Lord Jesus Christ “will come again to judge the living and the dead,” the world scoffs at and is hostile to what we preach. As we hold fast to the Word of God, let us consider how...

Joy in a Beleaguered Church

The LCMS might be shrinking and North American culture might be becoming more hostile toward Christianity, but hand-wringing is not a Christian ceremony. The Lord calls us to hopefulness and joy.

Albrecht Dürer: The Man Behind the Self-Portrait

Dürer was the one of the first artists to paint self-portraits. But why would he paint in the typical medieval tradition of picturing Jesus in full frontal view and use himself as the visage of Christ?

Sources of the Augsburg Confession

Philipp Melanchthon composed the Augsburg Confession in preparation for the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. The emperor Charles V called the diet in order to resolve the religious issues that were divided the empire.