 Joseph Sittler (theologian)Sittler was one of the first American Lutheran theologians to have an impact internationally and beyond Lutheran circles in this country. His writings on religion, ecology and the arts have influenced Christians around the world. As early as the 1940s, long before ecological concerns were popular, he was writing about the church's responsibility for the environment. His 1961 book, The Ecology of Faith, and a major address on the subject at the World Council of Churches New Delhi assembly, brought him international fame as he lamented that the "increasing distance from the natural world ... has almost stripped us of the possibility to talk of ourselves in relation to God's creation." Also in the 1940s, his then controversial lectures helped turn Lutherans away from a fundamentalist approach to the doctrine of the Word. His own way with words was as elegant as it was precise. He was ordained in 1930, served an Ohio congregation, taught at Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary (1943-57) and the University of Chicago Divinity School (1957-73). Sittler published the last of his eight books, Gravity and Grace, in 1986, and from 1973 until his death in 1987 at age 83, was distinguished professor in residence at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Visit the Joseph Sittler Archives, a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. The archives features free full-length videos and audio recordings, an image library, and a collection of writings by and about this contemporary theologian whose influence is unparalleled. Visit www.josephsittler.org |