Pastor Fritz Foltz

Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.

Lesson 7: Technology – Mobility

Lesson 7: Technology – Mobility

I was standing at a rest stop on I-95 south of Washington, watching six lanes of traffic zooming at 70 miles per hour. When I asked my wife what people who lived 100 or 200 years ago would think if they could see this, she suggested people living 50 years ago would be overwhelmed. We […]

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Lesson 6: Powers

Lesson 6: Powers

One way to understand the relationship of state and church is to look at what Paul says about Principalities and Powers. We usually dismiss this, because it employs strange words that seem to speak about ancient ideas. In the first chapter of Colossians, he speaks of Christ as “the image of the invisible God, the […]

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Lesson 5: Technology

Lesson 5: Technology

No matter how many traditional religious and ethical arguments one group makes, a second group maintains the primary function of both ethics and religion should be reducing and eliminating suffering. If technology offers us a way to do that, we should use it, they suggest.

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Lesson 4: Self-Denial

Lesson 4: Self-Denial

Remember when I announced I was going to do something on church and society, Lupe and Myron offered some examples that have to be addressed. Lupe pointed to the death of hundreds of people in Pakistan who died of thirst during the Ramadan fast. Myron sent a New York Times article about India’s prime minister […]

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Lesson 3: The Global Economic System

Lesson 3: The Global Economic System

Certainly a major factor Christians have to consider when making decisions in our modern world is the global economic system. Electronic media and computing enable us to engage with people we do not know on the other side of the earth, and we have used this primarily for economic transactions. This has brought new challenges […]

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Lesson 2: Sensus Fidei

Lesson 2: Sensus Fidei

Lupe mentioned the situation her son faced when on assignment for the World Bank in Pakistan during Ramadan. With extremely high temperatures, over 700 people died observing the fast that includes not drinking water during daylight hours. Does following God’s will include this kind of renunciation?

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Lesson 1: History

Lesson 1: History

Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment introduces a new stage in the ongoing conversation between Church and Society.

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Lesson 15: Make a Real, Contemporary Christian Community Your Reference Point

Lesson 15: Make a Real, Contemporary Christian Community Your Reference Point

Boy, this one has some catchy adjectives. We are not to join just any church, but a “real” one that is relevant to the “contemporary” situation. In fact, it replaces “church” with “community,” implying it should not simply be a place where people go to worship but a gathering of persons who interact with one […]

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Lesson 14: Choose Productive Nonviolent Vocations

Lesson 14: Choose Productive Nonviolent Vocations

As I write this lesson, politicians are debating whether they would have invaded Iraq, if they knew what we know now. The discussion began as a question from the press to see if they could connect Jeb Bush with his brother. When his answer was controversial, they began asking many candidates the same question. As […]

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Lesson 13: Do Nothing from Prestige Alone

Lesson 13: Do Nothing from Prestige Alone

I was amused when I looked up the origin of “prestige.” Apparently it goes back to a French word for a conjuror’s tricks or illusions. And in some sense, all prestige has an element of deception about it. None of us is all that different from another. This became evident when I found myself dining […]

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