An Aaron Wolf Twofer

One of the most frustrating things about the Missouri Synod is our intellectual inbreeding.

What I mean is that most of our thinking and writing is done "in house." Unlike great theologians, philosophers, social critics, and other thinkers from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Reformed, and Evangelical traditions, we Lutherans largely find our best minds "preaching to the choir."

One felicitous exception is LCMS lay theologian, historian, thinker, journalist, and writer par excellence Aaron D. Wolf, who is one of the editors and columnists at Chronicles: a Magazine of American Culture. Fr. Hollywood readers may remember a post from two years ago highlighting Aaron's brilliant piece about Christmas and church music - an article that introduced me to Martin Luther's favorite composer, the glorious Josquin des Prez. [Have I really been blogging that long? +HW]

Aaron has broken out of the Missouri ghetto and is a voice for not only Lutheranism, not only conservatism and confessionalism, but full-blown unapologetic traditionalism - not only in the sense of Evangelical Catholic Christianity, but also in matters of Western Civilization and American conservatism.

His writing is delicious, laced with poetic turns of phrase, deep with rich and provocative thought, and spiced with puns and irony. Aaron's columns are Chestertonian, while at the same time reflecting contemporary American life in a very different era and culture than that of G.K.

A couple recent Aaron Wolf offerings:

• Aaron tackles the culture of death in this dark and ironic look at Planned Parenthood.
• Aaron not only comments on the recent scandal in Illinois, but also takes a swat at an American sacred cow from American history/mythology.

Thanks again, Aaron, not only for your insights, but for being a voice of Traditional Lutheranism in a very dark world of gnostic and entertainment based religiousity. And thank you for being a "thinking man's conservative" - as opposed to doling out the usual blather in the conservative world more suited to the realm of professional wrestling than of critical thought and commentary.

Dear readerm if you're looking for interesting reading from a conservative persuasion, check out Chronicles online. Better yet, support Chronicles with a subscription to the journal itself, or give out subscriptions for Christmas gifts.