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A Gathering Cloud
FREDERICK J. GAISER
(see full text of essay under “Editorial”)
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For the writer of the book of Hebrews, the
“cloud of witnesses” included his ancestors in the faith all the way back to Abel….The
list of people covers millennia, from Israel’s prehistory to the Maccabean
revolt, yet they are cited as though personal friends to the writer and well
known to the reader as well….Now, two more millennia have been added, and our
list of friends and forebears has grown immeasurably. In addition to the
biblical saints, our cloud of witnesses includes believers from every age and
every culture.
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Articles
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What Cloud? What Witnesses? A Preacher’s Exegesis of Hebrews
12:1–2
THOMAS G. LONG
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Hebrews’ “cloud of witnesses” served to encourage dispirited
Christians, worn down by the constant struggles of the Christian life. The
letter offers them (and us) a robust theological vision, a Christology of
hope.
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Heavenly Days: Commemorating the Saints
PHILIP H.
PFATTEICHER
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The commemoration of the saints goes to the heart of
the gospel and is a necessary reminder of the unity of the whole church,
militant and triumphant. The variety of gifts praised by the New Testament is
reflected in a wide-ranging and inclusive calendar of representatives drawn
from every land and occupation and every age since Christ.
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Windows into Heaven: The Role of Icons in the Greek
Orthodox Church
JOHN KOSTAS
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Icons have been described as “dogma in paint” and “windows
into heaven.” They are witnesses to the incarnation, God’s own icon, which
declares that the divine Logos has become capable of human depiction.
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On the Veneration of Saints and Martyrs, Ancient
and Modern
RHODA SCHULER
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While the Lutheran Confessions condemn the invocation
of saints, they commend their proper veneration. Considering modes of
veneration in the early church offers insight into appropriate customs and
rituals for those who have died more recently in and for the faith.
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Servant of Christ, Leader of the Church: David
Windibiziri
PETER B. BARTIMAWUS
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The church’s calendar of saints has been dominated by figures of the
West and of the past. We need now to hear stories of holy men and women from
other cultures and from our own time.
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Physician for God: David Weng
ALICIA LEE
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David Weng has been
a medical doctor in Taiwan, then a hospital chaplain. Now, he takes up a new
calling as a medical missionary in Thailand. His story belongs among “the
cloud of witnesses” that others need to hear.
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Religious Freedom under Attack in Indonesia
ANDAR G.
PARLINDUNGAN
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Recent religious violence in Indonesia calls the Indonesian church and
churches around the world to a more serious commitment to critical and
creative dialogue and to intentional efforts at peacemaking.
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Struggle for Truth and Justice: Nirmal Minz of
Northern India
JHAKMAK NEERAJ
EKKA
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As leader of the church in North India, Bishop Nirmal Minz has
dedicated his life to the struggle for truth and justice, especially for the
indigenous people of his region. For him, the dynamic power of the gospel of
Jesus Christ has led to a new vision for society.
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Resources
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Texts in
Context: For All What Saints? Preaching All Saints Day
MARK A. GRANQUIST
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American culture has either trivialized All Saints Eve into a time of
free candy or idealized All Saints Day as a festival of the unachievable. The
texts are more real than that—and so is sainthood.
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Face to
Face: PowerPoint in Preaching?
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No!
PHILIP A.
QUANBECK II
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Yes…but!
ANDREW ROOT
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The 2007–2008 Essay Prize for Doctoral Candidates
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To Remember Well Together: Preaching and Memory in
Ethnically Diverse Congregations
LISA W. LAMB
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Memory is an active process that functions to shape community among
ethnic groups. Preaching can engage the memories of various ethnic groups in
a congregation, shaping it into a vibrant community that is capable of the
disciplines of forgiveness, hospitality, and love that make ethnic
reconciliation possible.
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Reviews
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Encountering Ecclesiastes: A Book for Our Time, by James Limburg
J.
CLINTON MCCANN, JR.
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Reading the Bible
with the Dead, by John L. Thompson
GLEN WESLEY MENZIES
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Idolatry and the
Hardening of the Heart: A Study in Biblical Theology, by Edward P.
Meadors
CHRISTINA L. WENDLAND
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The Scandalous God:
The Use and Abuse of the Cross, by Vítor Westhelle
CLINT SCHNEKLOTH
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Authentic Faith:
Bonhoeffer’s Theological Ethics in Context, by Heinz Eduard Toedt
JOHN W. MATTHEWS
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Getting into
Character: The Art of First-Person Narrative Preaching, by Stephen Chapin
Garner
WARREN O. SCHULZ
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Simul: Lutheran
Voices in Poetry, ed. by Mark Patrick Odland
ROBERT BRUSIC
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Christians and a
Land Called Holy: How We Can Foster Justice, Peace and Hope, by Charles
P. Lutz and Robert O. Smith
PAUL P. PARKER
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Index to Volume 28 (2008)
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