Mike Wittmer

Category: Theology

  • grand traverse

    My family returned from another fun weekend in Traverse City, probably the most beautiful place on earth you’ve never heard of. The area has vineyards, cherry and peach orchards, islands, peninsulas, sand dunes, Petoskey stones, and a vast, unsalted ocean. It’s Tuscany with water. We were saddened to see so many dead buds on the…

  • why would someone be a panentheist?

    This week I was chatting with Brian Mattson, a Th.M. student who is working in the new field of theological aesthetics. He is reading a lot of Hans Urs von Balthasar and David Bentley Hart. You actually don’t read the inscrutable Hart as much as you slip along in his general direction. I’m sure Hart…

  • seller beware

    Here is a draft for an Our Daily Journey devotional which I worked up over the weekend. I’m not real happy with the application (last paragraph). I’d like to also mention the positive aspects of buying (sometimes what we buy and sell is good), but ran out of room (the limit for the piece is…

  • death in evolution

    Last week I heard a professor from MIT say on television, “Three billion years ago, when we were reptiles….” The sentence struck me as very strange, stranger still because neither the host nor the audience batted an eye. Look at that sentence again, and then ponder John Collins’ remark that we must remember “how hard…

  • the evolution of death

    When I was writing my dissertation on H. Richard Niebuhr, I was confused by his use of the terms “creation” and “fall.” At times he seemed to distinguish them as separate events, while elsewhere he seemed to run them together. My confusion was clarified when Langdon Gilkey published a book on Richard’s brother, Reinhold Niebuhr.…

  • fear and faith

    Another thing I learned while researching The Last Enemy is that it’s not wrong to be afraid of dying. Jesus was. His death contained unfathomable terrors, and he sweat blood as he braced himself for what was to come. Our deaths are infinitely easier, but we may still learn from the cross that fear is…

  • Why a book on death?

    My last two books have addressed consecutively the topics of hell and death, so I guess I’m mired in my blue period. I wouldn’t say I’m totally depressed, but my next project may be a history of the Chicago Cubs. The idea of writing a book on death occurred to me while watching Tom Brokaw’s…

  • the last enemy

    Today is the release of my book on death, The Last Enemy: Preparing to Win the Fight of Your Life. I kept the book small, with short chapters full of humorous and inspiring stories, so it would be enjoyably read by anyone. And since we’re all going to die, I think we all need to…

  • true value

    I discovered an interesting piece of trivia during my reading on technology, and I thought it might have some homiletical value. You are welcome to use this illustration as it fits in your sermon or lesson, and as always, give productive feedback before I send it in to Our Daily Journey. And if you are…

  • glory and love

    Last evening a student asked if I have any insight on whether God is primarily a God of glory or love. Apparently this was being discussed among the pastoral staff at his church, and he intimated it was being bandied about more broadly. In case someone else has an interest in this topic, here is…