Lawrence R. Rast Jr.

Ministers of a New Medium

History & Biography

“Two Christian leaders, Roman Catholic Fulton Sheen and Lutheran Walter A. Maier, both of whom served in what might be considered traditional denominations, helped draw their ethnic traditions into the American religious mainstream through their adoption and advocacy for the use of new media and technology. Seeing radio as a God-given tool in service of the proclamation of the gospel, they also helped transform the shape and practice of the larger Christian community. In Ministers of a New Medium Kirk Farney tells this remarkable story in a way that draws the reader deeply into the lives of the aforementioned men, along with the development and functioning of their radio programs: Sheen's The Catholic Hour and Maier's The Lutheran Hour. Working on the bleeding edge of technological development, Maier and Sheen helped transform the twentieth-century church by using their 'golden mouths' and 'ethereal pulpits' to become 'pastors of the airwaves' with the result that, perhaps unknowingly, they were transforming the very nature of what it means to be the church and how that church may express itself.”

The Genius of Luther's Theology

Theology

“Stressing Luther's theological anthropology and his view of the living and active Word of God, Kolb and Arand have given us a useful, pertinent, and contemporarily significant introduction to the genius of the great reformer's thought. This book is a valuable contribution to Luther research.”