Law and Grace (Painting)
Andrew Richard
This issue’s woodcut is an imitation of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s 1529 painting, “Law and Grace”
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This issue’s woodcut is an imitation of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s 1529 painting, “Law and Grace”
Bernard had such a longing for Christ. Though he was as complex as any sinner-saint, and though we might well find fault with some of the positions he maintained and the things he did, he was consistent in this: he preached Christ Jesus.
A June 6th memo from President and CEO Don Christian of Concordia Texas informed constituents of the university of a desire to separate from the LCMS in governance matters.
The blood You spilt / Removes my guilt,
The body that You give me is salvation
In Beowulf, we see into a moment in the process of converting pagan poetic culture into Christian culture, a process incomplete in the text of the poem, and perhaps forever incomplete in the real world.
It isn’t legalism to insist that the law must be fulfilled. It is the comforting gospel that the law has in fact been fulfilled for us.
O Love, You grant me and my wife / To be a picture of Your grace, / To live the sacrificial life, / Until we reach that place / Of marriage feasting up above / And live with You, our Perfect Love.
Pfotenhauer’s words are a sober reminder that we must teach our children of the dangers and snares we encounter living in this fallen world. Even more, they are a message of hope in our Savior, whose blood covers all sin.
I encourage all of you to not only read this poem, but to learn it by heart. Its imagery is not only beautiful, but it accurately and poignantly teaches us how important and necessary Christ’s ascension was for us.
It is not only possible to keep a Lutheran college Lutheran. It has to be done. And it has to be done with purpose from the very start. That is exactly what we are doing at Luther Classical College.
