# 442: Giertz - A Shepherd's Letter

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/banned-books-1005383/442-giertz-a-shepherd-s-letter
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/banned-books-1005383/442-giertz-a-shepherd-s-letter.md
Podcast: [Banned Books](https://stenobird.com/podcast/banned-books-1005383)
Published: 2026-06-05T23:14:20+00:00
Episode link: https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/442-giertz
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bannedbooks/BB_442.mp3?dest-id=697691
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/banned-books-1005383/episodes/442-giertz-a-shepherd-s-letter
Duration seconds: 10102

## Resource

We're in This Together. In this episode, we sit with Bo Giertz and read his open letter to the churches — A Shepherd's Letter. As translator, Bror Erickson says of the opening section (we read on the show), "Crises and Sources of Strength": "Christians had been systematically persecuted by the Nazis, and this systematic persecution continued in soviet countries. However, in Western Europe, church leaders like Bo Giertz saw how increasing industrialization was also assisting an increasing secularism. There were huge population shifts into the city, and people lost track of the church even as the church lost track of the people during these shifts. Some political parties were also actively hostile to the church. The trends toward secularism and atheism in the West have continued, of course, and have also become a point of consternation for believers even to this day. This age has not ceased to be evil since Paul designated it as such in Gal. 1:4. So the church continues and will continue to suffer crises, and so the essay "Crises and Sources of Strength" takes on a sort of timeless dimension that way. SHOW NOTES: Bo Giertz - A Shepherd's Letter https://shop.1517.org/products/9781948969987-a-shepherds-letter More from 1517: Support 1517 Podcast Network: https://www.1517.org/donate-podcasts 1517 Podcasts : http://www.1517.org/podcasts 1517 on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@1517org 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/1517-podcast-network/id6442751370 1517 Events Schedule : https://www.1517.org/events 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education : https://academy.1517.org/ What's New from 1517: By Water and the Word by Brian Thomas : https://shop.1517.org/products/9781967920013-by-water-and-the-word?srsltid=AfmBOopBUXbtbkYK0o6UHbWQ…

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