ABSTRACT Diakonia, grounded in theological anthropology and oriented toward inclusion, justice, and care, requires sociologically attuned frameworks capable of interpreting contemporary forms of social fragmentation and vulnerability. Rosa's resonance theory provides such a framework by conceptualizing human–world relations as potentially transformative encounters characterized by mutual affectivity, self‐efficacy, and openness. Crucially, resonance cannot be instrumentalized; it emerges only under conditions that allow subjects and their environments to “speak” with their own voices. The article argues that diakonia can foster resonance axes—horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and intra‐subjective—through practices such as community building, ritual participation, pastoral care, and advocacy work. These axes secure conditions for participatory agency while avoiding authoritarian or efficiency‐driven modes that inhibit resonance. Moreover, resonance theory illuminates diakonia's longstanding engagement with vulnerability: resonant relations presuppose trust and exposure, both of which are undermined in late modern contexts marked by structural acceleration, control regimes, and competitive pressures. Finally, the article highlights the potential of religious practices to cultivate “listening hearts” and counter political alienation, thereby contributing to more dialogical democratic cultures. Resonance thus offers diakonia a critical lens for evaluating social structures and a constructive framework for shaping relational, inclusive spaces.

ABSTRACT According to 19th‐century Danish theologian and poet N.F.S. Grundtvig, Christianity truly comes alive when it is freely expressed in the congregation through confession of faith, preaching, song, and praise. This article presents a contemporary systematic reading of Grundtvig's important essay, The Christian Signs of Life , alongside his hymn There Sat a Fisherman Deep in Thought , which depicts the conversion of Simon. It is argued that Grundtvig's hymn may be taken to show not only what it means to be called to a Christian life, but also the necessity of contemplation, as well as the movement from contemplation to action. To further elaborate on Grundtvig's insights, the article draws upon 20th‐century philosopher Jean‐Louis Chrétien's work concerning the call and the response. By reading Chrétien alongside Grundtvig's hymn Creation , it is shown how being called may be understood as a foundational moment not only in discipleship, but in Creation as such.

ABSTRACT How are experiences shaping how people understand, relate to, and see Christian faith and doctrine as relevant in their lives? It can be argued that this is due to how such doctrines can relate to and interpret their experiences of contingency and resonance. This approach entails elements that can help understand the quest for experiences with religion within a larger theoretical framework and point to some of the implications that can be derived from a theoretical approach that addresses a specific understanding of Christian—and especially Lutheran—theology. A main idea here is that the contemporary discussion about the uncontrollable features of reality corresponds to and supports the notion of the human being as being referred to something other than its own agency.

This research aims to understand mystical synthetics in Selo through a case study of the Saparan tradition. This tradition reflects the cultural expression and gratitude of the Javanese people, who try to achieve harmony with supernatural powers. The variety of religions that Selo residents embrace does not conflict with Javanese beliefs but melts into the Saparan tradition. This research uses an anthropological approach and Ricklefs' mystical systemic ideational principle. The method used is field research with primary sources from informants in Selo hamlet and secondary data from various references. The results of this study show that the Saparan tradition is divided into two sessions: preparation and celebration. The celebration session is further categorized into three types: communal, individual, and entertainment. The dialectic between religious and Javanese beliefs does not cause conflict but results in a merging. Javanese mythology remains firmly upheld by the Selo community because it is believed to play a direct role in their lives. The Saparan tradition is carried out as a form of gratitude, prayer to ancestral spirits, and an effort to maintain harmony with supernatural forces.

ABSTRACTThe reasoning of the court in what is called “the Dobbs decision” is rooted in rights related to the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. A problem from a Lutheran perspective is that the context for the court's majority decision about rights is rooted in a heritage of patriarchy and white supremacy. The values of patriarchy and white supremacy are hierarchy and control, particularly of bodies and reproduction. The result is that Dobbs reinforces limited moral agency and primarily prioritizes flourishing of embryos and fetuses without asking what pregnant neighbors need. The social teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) stands against the Dobbs decision.

ABSTRACTWithin the area of Lutheran theology and ethics, recent scholarship has shed light on important horizons in gender, sexuality, politics and church. Five articles in this edition of Dialog (Lowe, Latour, Streufert, Micale and Lahtinen) address the ethics of consent, LGBTQ+ religious trauma, reproductive justice and the intersections of abortion politics with work and disability studies. They connect interdisciplinary methods to Lutheran theology, history, ethics and ecclesiology in order to develop relational and embodied understandings of justice. In particular, they ask how the Lutheran tradition addresses consent, moral agency, abortion access, disability and ecclesial or ecological justice in distinctive ways. They address questions such as: How does Lutheran theological language engage themes of gender and sexuality justice in diverse contexts? How might Lutheran themes contribute to, be challenged by, or transformed with perspectives from diverse and intersectional politics?

Abstract Gender justice has been a priority of the Lutheran Word Federation (LWF) for decades, much longer than the existence of its Gender Justice Policy (2013) where it is affirmed that gender justice is “a matter of faith.” The LWF has always put great emphasis on the theological problems gender justice issues present, as opposed to an assessment that women's experiences of exclusion and abuses of power are strictly acknowledged and treated as human rights violations. Therefore the committment to gender justice has been strongly tied to the importance of theological education as a critical tool against misleading theologies that justify patriarchal world views, including traditional gender roles and women's submissiveness. The focus in this article is on two major gender justice issues the LWF has called particular attention to, namely women's equal participation to men in leadership roles, including ordained ministry, and violence against women within the church and society at large. Ever since the Seventh Assembly of the LWF in Budapest in 1984, LWF member churches have been urged in assembly messages and resolutions to promote full inclusion of women in the life of church and society and to secure their health and well‐being. Multiple documents, action plans, policies, and reports have been written in order to follow up on the directions from the assemblies regarding women. My aim here is to explore those documents and to lift up what has already been said about women's leadership roles in church and society and about discrimination and violence against women. These documents laid the groundwork for what was stated in the documents passed at the Thirteenth Assembly of the LWF in Poland in September 2023.

Abstract Contemporary diet culture is detrimental to many Western men and women, though women are disproportionately impacted. This results in poor body image, low self‐esteem, and unhealthy lifestyles. Christian discourse is not immune to the influence of diet culture, with many popular Christian pastors and authors adopting this paradigm and seeking to align it with a Christian worldview. When an understanding of a human being as an anthropological duality is brought to bear on the issue of diet culture, a more consistently Christian anthropology can resource a healthier view of the embodied self and provide resources for a robust Christian response to diet culture.

Abstract Into the debates about Christ's two natures, divine and human, and how they relate, Martin Luther threw his extended interpretation of the communicatio idiomatum, the communication of the person Christ's attributes. Luther's Christology is incarnational and it is fundamental to him that God can and will be known only as a human being (homo/Mensch), yet Christ's real presence is presented three dimensionally and in bodily intersectionality. Luther's complex understanding of Christ as really human and the Word incarnate is reflected in his intense work with the sacraments as well as with semantics and the art of translation. Luther aims at an inclusive Christology, sacramentology, and language. Hence Christ is human, not male; sacraments are seen as direct exchange between God and humans in the body of Christ; and ministry is reconfigured as a human function of preaching the Word (ministerium verbi), not a substitute representing divine sacredness.