ILT is being represented this week in two different locations for the Northwest and Augustana District LCMC gatherings.

Joel Williams, Director of Enrollment at ILT, is attending the 2025 LCMC Northwest District Gathering on May 1-3 in Bozeman, Montana.

Leon Miles, Dean of Christ College and Vice President of Advancement is in Alexandria, Minnesota this weekend at Mount Carmel from May 1-2 for the Augustana District Conference.

We’re looking forward to seeing everybody there!

Summer classes are just around the corner. Here are the course offerings for this summer semester:

BT 354: Life and Theology of Paul
Instructor: Douglas Morton, dmorton@ilt.edu

BT 471: Galatians
Instructor: Bart Eriksson, barteriksson@hotmail.com

BT 480: Biblical Theology of Law and Ethics
Instructor: Peter Beckman, pbeckman22@ilt.edu

HST 645/745: Luther’s Theology of the Cross
Instructor: Steven Hein, heinsteven@ix.netcom.com

HST 844: Luther’s Theology of the Word
Instructor: Erik Herrmann, herrmannstl@me.com

PT 606/706: Luther as a Spiritual Theologian
Instructor: Dennis Ngien, DNgien@tyndale.ca

PTE 520: Theology and World Religions
Instructor: Beth Hoeltke, bhoeltke@ilt.edu

PTE 810: Hermeneutical Theory: Gadamer and Ricoeur
Instructor: Mark Mattes, mmattes@grandview.edu

For more information, contact Joel Williams at jwilliams@ilt.edu.

The women came to the tomb in the thin light of dawn. That the stone was rolled away surprised them; they entered the tomb’s dimness and found it confined no body. Jesus’ corpse was nowhere to be seen, no matter how intently they peered into the tomb’s dim corners. Then suddenly, the previously dim and empty tomb filled with the dazzling presence of two men who spoke into the women’s lack of understanding, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen…” (Lk. 24:5-6).

These men of dazzling presence were the first messengers… the first preachers of the resurrection. By itself, the empty tomb proves only the absence of the body. Many scenarios can be offered up, accounting for the body’s absence. The authorities stole it to prevent the disciples from having it; they took it to confound the disciples with its absence. The disciples absconded with it to declare his prophesied resurrection based on an absent body. No, the empty tomb is a silent and insufficient witness. The resurrection needs a preacher… a preacher who can hand over a living Jesus… a resurrected Christ.

Those first preachers… those men of dazzling presence… they turned the women to the words which Jesus had given them, “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise” (Lk. 24:6-7). These words, the very word of God spoken as he walked among them, sustained those women as they became preachers themselves, announcing to the eleven and all the rest the things that had happened at the tomb. Upon hearing their preaching, Peter ran to the tomb. The stone remained rolled away, and the tomb’s dim emptiness greeted Peter’s gaze. Peter marveled at it all.

Today, I am reminded of Easter’s “bookends.” At the death of Jesus, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two. The Holiest of Holies was now vulnerable to the death present in this sin-broken and cursed creation, where all people die. At the resurrection of Jesus, the stone sealing the tomb was rolled away. This sin-broken and cursed creation, where all people die, is now vulnerable to the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ, who can no longer be contained by the tomb. Your preacher of the resurrection hands over Jesus Christ, the first fruits of the New Creation, where death is no more. Your preacher hands him over to be the life of you, a sinner dead in your sin.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Blessed Easter to you and yours from the Institute of Lutheran Theology!

This course will focus on the hermeneutical philosophy of Hans Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) in relationship to preceding and subsequent theories of hermeneutics. We will focus on how Gadamer presents hermeneutics as a “practice,” the art of listening empathetically, with openness, for the sake of understanding others, especially voices or texts from the past or other cultures, in disciplines such as the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences, even though these disciplines are not grounded in empirical science. In addition to studying texts, symbols, artistic productions, and people, hermeneutics, as Gadamer understands it, through an affirmation of “prejudice,” tradition, and the linguistic nature of reason, allows truth to express itself as an unfolding event, neither subjective nor relative, as it continuously evolves within dialogue. We will then transition to Ricoeur and develop his expansion of Gadamer’s themes, focusing on the relation between symbol and thought, and his re-appropriation of texts in a “second naivete.”

For more information about studying at ILT, contact Joel Williams at jwilliams@ilt.edu.

Christ College is Hiring an Assistant, Associate, or Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology.

This position teaches courses in the HST department, attends Christ College faculty senate meetings, participates in strategic planning and execution of strategic initiatives, and generally serves the needs of Christ College and it’s students as needed.

Christ College serves the mission of ILT by preparing undergraduate students to answer God’s call for service to neighbor in the family, society, and church through educational programs which preserve, promote, and propagate the classical Christian tradition from a Lutheran perspective. Christ College needs a passionate, dedicated individual who will help the college achieve its mission.

Click here to see the complete job description and download the application. Application deadline is May 2, 2025. We will respond to all applications.

Dr. Leon Miles is the Keynote Speaker at the Joint Convocation of the Eastern South Dakota and Minkota Mission Districts (NALC).

Dr. Miles will be joined by Bishop Dan Selbo, Bishop of the North American Lutheran Church. The Convocation is being held Friday, April 4 through Saturday, April 5 in Watertown, SD, where the topic will be “Law & Gospel” – Reflections from Martin Luther.

Dr. Miles serves ILT as the Vice President of Advancement, and Dean of Christ College. He has been an integral part of the success of ILT in his 12 years, working in admissions, enrollment, teaching and mentoring students, as well as administrative, marketing, and accreditation efforts.

ILT would not be where it is without him, and we appreciate his dedication to the mission and vision of ILT’s future!

Rev. David Patterson Serves on ATS Evaluation Committee

Last week, Rev. David Patterson, MR, MLIS and Dean of the Center for the Word, served as a member of an ATS Commission on Accreditation evaluation team for the Northwest Nazarene Divinity School at Northwest Nazarene University in Boise, Idaho.

Evaluators are academic peers, serving without compensation, typically spending three days conducting in-depth interviews with the school’s students, faculty, staff, administration, and governing board, as well as devoting many hours before and after the visit to reviewing documents and writing an evaluation committee report.

ATS invited Reverend Patterson to serve because of his background in theological librarianship, student formation, and online theological education. We thank him for representing ILT and the Christ School of Theology in this way!

The Deadline is Approaching to Designate Your 2024 Thrivent Choice Dollars.^®

One of the easiest ways to donate to ILT is through Thrivent Choice Dollars, and March 31, 2025 is the last day you have to donate your 2024 Choice dollars.

According to Thrivent.com, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans provided more than $100 million to help congregations, communities and individuals in need last year. You can make a personal donation to ILT and Thrivent pays the processing fees.

Direct Choice Dollars Online

1. Visit www.thrivent.com/thriventchoice.
2. Select “Direct Choice Dollars.”
3. Log in with your user ID and password. Click “register” if you are a first-time user.
4. Search the catalog of organizations to find Institute of Lutheran Theology.
5. Click on “Direct Now” to direct designated Choice Dollars.

Direct Choice Dollars By Phone

1. Call 800-847-4836 and when prompted, say “Thrivent Choice.”
2. Press 1 to direct Choice Dollars.
3. A representative will work with you to direct Choice Dollars.

By choosing ILT to receive your Choice Dollars you are helping prepare the next generation of faithful Lutheran preachers and teachers. Make ILT your Choice today!

Greetings to you in the “springtime” of our church year seasons!

We can call it “springtime” because that is what the word “Lent” means in Old English. The early church used the Greek and Latin languages. Their names for Lent (Tessarakosti—Greek & Quadragesima—Latin) simply mean “fortieth.” These names recognize the forty days of Lent between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Sundays during this time are not counted within the days of Lent. The forty days end at the beginning of the Maundy Thursday worship service. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday constitute a liturgical season, the Holy Triduum, the shortest of the church year. The forty days hearkens back to Jesus’ time in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.

Lent is generally considered a time of preparation for Easter Sunday, the Day of the Resurrection of Our Lord. Christians are to focus on their fallen, sinful state and repent of that sinfulness. This focus usually involves increasing their pious practices such as prayer, fasting, and acts of charity. Often, this is referred to as joining Jesus on his way to the cross.

While typical pious practices during Lent focus Christians’ attention on themselves and their sinfulness, celebrating the Transfiguration just before Ash Wednesday gives Christians a clue about where their focus should be. In all three Synoptic Gospels’ accounts of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:36, Mark 9:8, & Matthew 17:8), the texts inform us that, after the cloud… after the voice… after the dazzling appearance of Jesus… and after the manifestation of Moses and Elijah… after all of that, the three disciples saw Jesus only.

When Christians focus on themselves and their sinfulness, they engage in self-centered introspection. In other words, they are curved in upon themselves; they “in curvatus in se,” one of the phrases used to describe sinfulness. The clue provided by the conclusion of the Transfiguration accounts’ singular focus, “they saw Jesus only” turns Christians’ Lenten focus away from themselves and their pious practices and toward Jesus Christ. Or, as indicated by the Apostle Paul, “I decided to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2).  Only in knowing Jesus Christ crucified for them do Christians come to know the depths of their sin.

May the preaching of Jesus Christ who has come to be your life, fix your focus on him, draw you through this Lenten season, and into your celebration of the Day of Resurrection for our Lord!

Rev. Timothy J. Swenson
Dean of Chapel