Faith and politics – Page 3

Evangelicalism in the USA: Discipleship failure owing to catechesis failure

The components of the recent discipleship disasters in evangelical Christianity in the United States. The evangelical churches were left vulnerable because they did not catechize well.

On labeling and name-calling

There is no good reason to categorize every thought in the world, and every person in the world, using one or the other of two labels. There are very good reasons not to.

How to get people to do good things: coerce, persuade—or agree

Better to find allies and change the culture than sell your soul in an effort to control others’ behavior

One Ring to Bind Them All: Conservative Christians and the Theocratic Impulse

For conservative White Christians in the USA, theocracy is the Ring of Power, and abortion is their reason for wanting to use it. But it has its own purposes.

“ALL DAY LONG I HAVE HELD OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.” —Romans 10:21, citing Isaiah 65:2 How to feel about the recalcitrant? (Here is just another lesson in the long course in imitatio Dei that is the Christian life.) They just don’t get it. Are they incapable of understanding? Do theyContinue reading “All day long (Romans 10:21)”

The President and the Fourth

July 4 is not about celebrating the president, but it’s good to have a president who understands and supports the values that July 4 celebrates.

On observing July 4 as an American Christian

When the Fourth of July falls on a Sunday, Christians need to be careful about how they relate patriotism and worship.

Defining human existence (Psalm 139)

To be is to be known by God. God’s omniscience is knowledge not only of everything but of everyone. There is no one whom God does not know. My existence resides in the fact that God knows me. My identity is this: I am who God knows that I am. And since God speaks, andContinue reading “Defining human existence (Psalm 139)”

Fifty ways to say “there is no God” (riffing on Psalm 14)

We have so many elaborate ways of saying “There is no God” in our hearts without saying it out loud. We are such fools.

The South has risen again

Once again Heather Cox Richardson has compared current developments in US governance to nineteenth-century antecedents, with concerning results. See her post for June 22. She has been doing this well for many months now. I recommend her 2020 book How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the SoulContinue reading “The South has risen again”