What theological issues stir your interest?

Theology is the work of the whole Body of Christ—not only of ordained ministers or academic theologians. Everyone who loves Jesus Christ and tries to be faithful to the Gospel is a Christian theologian. We want the Theology Page to be useful to you in your growth in the faith.

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Are wars ever just? A debate between two famous brothers

As our church and the world continue to struggle with issues of war and peace in the aftermath of Sept. 11, we present as a resource a debate between two of the theological parents of the United Church of Christ: the brothers Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr. Both theologians—who taught two generations of UCC pastors—reacted to the Japanese invasion of China with thoughtful but opposed interpretations of what the Christian faith requires in time of international conflict. The debate was aired in the pages of the Christian Century. Also included as a resource: a paper by UCC theologian Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite applying the Just War tradition to the war against Iraq, and General Synod’s 1985 pronouncement on “Just Peace”—an alternative to “Just War.”

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 Taking Bible Seriously
Three papers by on the authority of scripture in the church.

 Same-Sex Unions
Should the church affirm vowed relationships by gay and lesbian couples?

 Cambridge Platform
The meaning today of the Cambridge Platform—a watershed event in the evolution of the congregational idea of church relationships.

 Just War or Just Peace?
The classic debate by the Niebuhr brothers on just war, plus General Synod on “Just Peace.”