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jaunthieI saw this article this morning: There's No Way I'm Saving That Guy.
On the one hand, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
On the other hand, I think part of why this is so funny to me is that they hit a very critical and often-ignored-by-righteous-Christianists nail on the head: that in the Christian tradition I grew up with, just showing up to church isn't enough (or even the critical part). Repentance has to be real, humility is key, and a genuine intent to try and do better is fundamental. Yes, you can be forgiven and saved - but you have to do the work, too, and you have to mean it when you ask for forgiveness. Nobody is worthy, but you have to try to be worthwhile; that's part of the path to being a good Christian. (Of course there were the Puritans who believed that you were either saved from birth or not, and if you weren't, you never would be. Doing good works and trying to be a good person wouldn't save you, but might be an indication that you were one of the saved - but that's another discussion.) When did humility and self-improvement go out of style in the Christian faith - at least the public face of it, particularly amongst Christianists? (And yes, I think Andrew Sullivan has a valid point when he distinguishes between Christianists and Christians.)
Ah, but they have an answer to that too: Screw the Meek.
On the one hand, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.
On the other hand, I think part of why this is so funny to me is that they hit a very critical and often-ignored-by-righteous-Christianists nail on the head: that in the Christian tradition I grew up with, just showing up to church isn't enough (or even the critical part). Repentance has to be real, humility is key, and a genuine intent to try and do better is fundamental. Yes, you can be forgiven and saved - but you have to do the work, too, and you have to mean it when you ask for forgiveness. Nobody is worthy, but you have to try to be worthwhile; that's part of the path to being a good Christian. (Of course there were the Puritans who believed that you were either saved from birth or not, and if you weren't, you never would be. Doing good works and trying to be a good person wouldn't save you, but might be an indication that you were one of the saved - but that's another discussion.) When did humility and self-improvement go out of style in the Christian faith - at least the public face of it, particularly amongst Christianists? (And yes, I think Andrew Sullivan has a valid point when he distinguishes between Christianists and Christians.)
Ah, but they have an answer to that too: Screw the Meek.
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Date: 2006-06-29 06:59 pm (UTC)Personally, I'm a big fan of New Fictionology. ;-)