ROUGHLY EDITED COPY CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY EDUCATION NETWORK CUENET LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS 2-10 DR. ROBERT KOLB CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY: CAPTION FIRST, INC. P.O. BOX 1024 LOMBARD, IL 60148 800-825-5234 *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. *** LC2-10 >> HELLO DR. KOLB. MY NAME IS DAVID. I'M WONDERING HOW USEFUL LUTHER'S DEFINITION OF THE WORD GOD IS FOR US TODAY. WOULD OUR STUDENTS UNDERSTAND IT? SHOULD WE STILL TEACH IT THE SAME WAY? >>DR. ROBERT KOLB: WELL, I THINK, DAVID, IF WE LOOK AT THE LARGE CATECHISM AND LUTHER'S EXPLANATION TO THE FIRST COMMANDMENT, WE CAN SEE THAT WHAT HE SAYS MAKES SENSE EVEN TO PEOPLE TODAY. YOU'VE HEARD MY OWN PARAPHRASE OF WHAT HE SAYS IN THE FIRST FEW PARAGRAPHS OF THE EXPLANATION TO THE FIRST COMMANDMENT. A GOD IS THE TERM FOR THAT TO WHICH WE ARE TO LOOK FOR ALL GOOD AND IN WHICH WE FIND REFUGE IN ALL NEED. THEREFORE, TO HAVE A GOD IS NOTHING ELSE THAN TO TRUST AND BELIEVE IN THAT ONE WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART. TRUST AND FAITH OF THE HEART ALONE MAKE BOTH GOD AND THE IDOL. NOW, LITERALLY LUTHER DIDN'T MEAN THAT WE CREATE GOD WITH OUR TRUST. BUT THE TRUE GOD BECOMES THE TRUE GOD IN OUR LIVES FOR US ON THE BASIS OF OUR TRUST. I THINK ESPECIALLY IN NORTH AMERICA TODAY WHERE EVEN IF WE DON'T KNOW THE NAME OF ERIK ERIKSON, WE KNOW ABOUT HIS IDENTITY CRISES AND WE KNOW ABOUT THIS DEVELOPMENT OF TRUST THROUGHOUT LIFE, THAT THAT MAKES SENSE. AND SO NOT EVERY HUMAN PERSONALITY IS CONSTRUCTED IN SIMILAR WAYS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, EVERY ONE OF US IS UNIQUE. THAT'S ONE OF THE GRAND THINGS ABOUT GOD'S VERY SIMPLE CREATION IS ITS TOTAL COMPLEXITY. ESPECIALLY WHEN WE LOOK AT HUMAN BEINGS. BUT I THINK THESE QUESTIONS OF WHERE DOES YOUR IDENTITY COME FROM? WHERE DO YOU GET SECURITY AND SAFETY? WHAT IS YOUR LIFE WORTH? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU TO BE THE PERSON YOU ARE? I THINK THOSE QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY, SECURITY AND MEANING DO HELP US CONNECT IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WITH PRACTICALLY EVERYBODY WE MEET IN OUR DAY AND AGE. AND AS WE TALK ABOUT PEOPLE'S LIVES, THEY WILL GIVE US CLUES AS TO WHETHER THEIR OLD SYSTEMS OF BELIEF OF HOLDING LIFE TOGETHER, OF BINDING LIFE TOGETHER, THEIR RELIGIONS, WHETHER THEY THINK THEY ARE RELIGIOUS OR NOT, WHETHER THOSE ARE WORKING AND FUNCTIONING. IF THEY ARE NOT WORKING, THEN WE CAN COME WITH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. AND IT'S A RICH GOSPEL. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT WHEN WE GET TO THE CREED. SO WE HAVE MANY POINTS OF BEGINNING THE CONVERSATION. AND IF THEY ARE PRETTY SECURE WITH THEIR FALSE GODS, IF WHATEVER IT IS THEY ARE TRUSTING IS ACTUALLY -- SEEMS TO BE BRINGING LIFE TOGETHER FOR THEM, THEN WE HAVE TO WAIT PATIENTLY IN LOVE, WITH RESPECT. BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THOSE OPENINGS. MAYBE HELPING CREATE SOME OPENINGS IN A VARIETY OF WAYS. SO THAT PEOPLE CAN TAKE SERIOUSLY THIS FIRST COMMANDMENT THAT IF YOU'VE GOING TO DEFINE HUMAN LIFE, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BEGIN BY DEFINING IT BY HAVING NO OTHER GODS THAN THE TRUE GOD, FEARING AND LOVING AND TRUSTING IN HIM ABOVE ALL THAT HE HAS MADE. *** THIS TEXT IS BEING PROVIDED IN A ROUGH DRAFT FORMAT. COMMUNICATION ACCESS REALTIME TRANSLATION (CART) IS PROVIDED IN ORDER TO FACILITATE COMMUNICATION ACCESSIBILITY AND MAY NOT BE A TOTALLY VERBATIM RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS. ***