Obama says he believes, abides and is trying to follow Jesus

image from jurvetson

One aspect of this campaign that sickens me is the way in which Barack Obama's faith has been questioned, first in whisper campaigns and now in outright comments.  In June, Cal Thomas wrote Barack Obama Is Not a Christian and just last week a talk by former GOP senator Rick Santorum questioned whether liberal Christianity was really, well, Christian:   “You’re a liberal something, but you’re not a Christian.”

Luckily, people are responding to this despicable tactic:

+  Cathleen Falsani,  religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and author of the upcoming Sin Boldly, has an editorial up this morning: I Have Faith That Obama Has Faith

Someone once said to me that trying to prove you're a Christian is like trying to prove you're not a pedophile. You can't "prove" it. It's a matter of faith, not (political) science.

I asked Scot McKnight, a professor at North Park University and author of, among many titles, The Jesus Creed, to answer the question: What is a Christian?

"A Christian is a person who trusts in the redemptive work of God in Christ and seeks to live that out," McKnight said. "I do believe that there is an existential relationship with God that transcends even what we say."

Though Jesus never uses the word "Christian" in the biblical accounts, he answered the question many different ways, which can be summarized as, simply: "Believe in me. Follow me. Abide in me."

Obama says he believes, abides and is trying to follow Jesus.  He's a humble believer and doesn't want to give the impression that he has the corner on truth. I respect that, although it makes fielding questions about his faith more complicated and provocative.

It is dangerous to try to judge the quality of a man's faith. That is God's purview, not ours.

+  Mara Vanderslice at Matthew 25 Network has launched a new website to respond to these smears: PutAwayFalsehood.com. They have also posted a petition in response to the hideous McCain ad from last week:

As Christians, we find John McCain's recent ad "The One"             incredibly offensive. This ad tries to portray Senator Obama as some             kind of Messiah and mocks those who support him as cult-like followers             looking for a new Savior. Even more troubling, many view the ad as             a dark attempt to portray Senator Obama as an anti-Christ figure.

Join us in calling on Sen. McCain             to repudiate this ad and take it down immediately

         

Comments

[A CHRISTian]

Interesting so glad i found this post