The Seminary Explores

Dr. Leonard Hummel, Professor of Pastoral Theology, Gettysburg Seminary, describes a grant from the Templeton Foundation  that enables the three “c’s”: competencies in science for seminarians, connections with scientists at other institutions and a core that encourages dialogue with science--for example, the connection between a professor of physics and a professor of Old Testament in a course on Genesis and the origins of the universe.

Dr. Christianson asks Dr. Daryl Black, new President and Executive Director of the Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum, the question, “Why do we have museums and should they do more than just collect “keepsakes”? Dr. Black describes the change in museums over the past two decades from emphasizing a collection of items, e.g. rifles, to interpretation of these items in the wider context of the need for human beings to make meaning of the past.  He illustrates this with the conflicting ways North and South used the Bible and even viewed God in the Civil War.

Dr. Christianson and John Spangler, Executive Assistant to the President for Communication and Planning and former President of the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation, explore what we can learn from a small school on a large campus on how to realize a commitment to preserving the environment by “going green:” using new technologies, such as geothermal wells, measuring the “carbon footprint,” recycling, and planting.  The Historic Walking Pathway and campus renewal with new parking and tree planting are prime examples at Gettysburg Seminary. 

Dr. Largen spends this episode talking to The Rev. Dr. David Rhodes about the integral role creation plays in Lutheran Theology, and the resources available for individual Christians, public ministers and congregations who want to learn more about how to bring care for creation into their faith lives. 

Argentina beyond “Evita”: a bustling nation with a strong professional class, a varied economy (especially agriculture and manufacturing), and exceptional scenery. The younger generation, represented by this team Rotary International team made up of attorney Marinal Ramos, attorney Melisa Cruzat and business administrator Leandro Marquez, is fully aware of the troubles of the distant past but has only experienced democracy and an open society in which women are making themselves felt especially in the field of law.

Dr. Christianson interviews Greg Bowles the On-Site Director of Project Gettysburg-Leon in Leon, Nicaragua.  They talk about how Nicaragua, the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere next to Haiti, is attempting to address issues of poverty, hunger, and land management.  The government is leading the way by making more animals available for farmers. Programs like Project Gettysburg-Leon are working to train local agricultural extension teams, as well as develop health, education, and art centers.

Dr. Christianson speaks with Dr. Baird Tipson, former president of Wittenberg University, Ohio and Washington College, Maryland on the important role that the Liberal Arts College plays in contemporary society despite the emphasis on technical capacities in fields as varied as medicine, law, or computers Technical skills are best learned in the context of the liberal arts which emphasize the whole person, including fundamental questions of who we are as humans, and how best to serve humanity in a changing world. The church continues to have a role in the Liberal Arts College, even though this role is evolving. Perhaps most important, church-related colleges have the opportunity as nowhere else to raise the ultimate question of who we are in relation to God.

Dr. Strobert talks with Gerhard Ulrich, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany about a wide variety of topics including:

• The relationship between the Lutheran Churches in Germany and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Theological education in Germany
• Who are we as Lutherans? What is our particular vocation?
• Examining the various cultures within the German Churches
• Unity versus uniformity
• Discussion of the new church structure in Northern Germany
• Issues within the church with the former Eastern Germany population

Host Dr. Gerald Christianson explores the future sustainability of seminary education with The Rev. Michael L. Cooper-White, President of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.