Crux of Theology

Allen G. Jorgenson is assistant dean and holds the William D. Huras Chair in Ecclesiology and Church History at Martin Luther University College at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Kristen E. Kvam is professor of theology at Saint Paul School of Theology in Greater Kansas City and Oklahoma City.

• Introduction: The Crux of the Matter Kristen E. Kvam1.Already Freed, Christians Should Serve (Cake): Religious Freedom Claims & Christian Privilege Caryn D. Riswold2.A Lutheran View of Conscience: Bound and Free, Constrained and Embodied Mary Elise Lowe 3.The Obligations We Bear With One Another: A Reply to Lowe and Riswold on Questions of Conscience, Domination, and Love Anthony Bateza 4.Retrieving Luther’s Critique of Idolatry for Our Fragmented World: Whiteness, Greed and the Environment Benjamin Taylor 5.A Non-Universal Lutheran Theology: Contextual Theological Process in Namibia Marit A. Trelstad6.Variegated Lutheran Theology in the Context of 21st Century Idols Mary Philip aka Joy7.Retrieving Luther’s Theology of Freedom for a Contemporary Ethic of Heteronomy Robert Overy-Brown 8.Crux of the Matter: Theology of the Cross and the Modern Extractive Imaginary Terra Schwerin Rowe 9.Crux in the Balance—In Response to Rowe and Overy-Brown Allen G. Jorgenson 1

Human rights and the rule of law are essential for modern democracy and citizenship. While Lutheran churches today are committed to the promotion of these cornerstones of our society, the historical and intellectual resources of Reformation theology in these matters continue to be debated. The present volume offers the reader a deepened understanding of justice, freedom, and human rights as they appear in the context of Luther's theology of the cross.