Christian Carnival CCXXXVIII: The Quotable Edition

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Welcome to the 238th edition of the Christian Carnival. I thought I'd spruce up this edition with a scattering of random quotes that were lying around in my hard drive. Not that we needed much sprucing up...some great posts this week.

Enjoy your trip around the Carnival.


Ken Brown presents The Shack posted at C.Orthodoxy, saying, "My review of The Shack, focusing especially on the theme of intimacy with God."

Anthony Delgado presents The Integrity of Modesty posted at eInquisitive Giving you something productive to think about!.

We should not serve the poor like they were Jesus. We should serve the poor because they are Jesus.
- Mother Teresa

Margaret Mary presents "The Scapegoat" by William Holman Hunt posted at The Earthly Paradise, saying, "William Holman Hunt's painting 'The Scapegoat' is filled with religious symbolism. It was initially quite controversial, because Victorian critics weren't used to the notion of Christ as a 'scapegoat.'"

Claudia Riley presents Dissing posted at Standing Straight, saying, "Family dramas can sometimes get almost overwhelming. I say almost, because, as believers, we have a resource who is beyond reproach, utterly trustworthy and able to do what we cannot in sometimes surprising ways."

I thought only of the apartness of God. What I had to learn after that was the togetherness of Man and God — a union of two totally different kinds of beings.
- Karl Barth

John presents The Problem (?) of Evil -- Part I posted at Brain Cramps for God, saying, "How do we answer those who present that the existence of evil either proves that God doesn't exist, or isn't good?"

Henry (Honzo) Imler presents Shower Question of the Day: Jesus and Women posted at Theology for the Masses, saying, "If the Biblical Complementarians never use Jesus or early Pauline texts to support their claims, does this bolster the case that Christianity was egalitarian to begin with, but was gradually patriarchized? I invite anyone to discuss how Jesus was a Biblical complementarian instead of an egalitarian."

I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
- Lesslie Newbigin

JR Madill presents Why I am not a Calvinist posted at Theology for the Masses, saying, "JR, through the use of narrative, explains why he is not a Calvinist."

Tom presents Individual Communion: A Contradiction in Terms Theology for the Masses posted at Theology for the Masses.

God didn't produce a ready-made world. The Creator has done something cleverer than this, making a world able to make itself.
- John Polkinghorne

Fiona Veitch Smith presents Tainted Gold - Olympic scandals and triumphs posted at Fiona Veitch Smith, saying, "An overview of the highs and lows of the ancient and modern olympics from a Christian perspective."

lorie presents The Girl and the Tick and the Saturday Trip. posted at Rice and Beans and Other Fine Things.

When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
- Desmond Tutu

Rodney Olsen presents Gambling on God posted at The Journey - Life : Faith : Family, saying, "Is it right to gamble on God? If we’re not absolutely convinced that God even exists does it make any sense to live as if he does?"

Sherry Early presents Why Read? posted at Sherry Early.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King, Jr

ChristianPF presents 12 Ways to turn a bad day into a better one posted at Money in the Bible Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, "12 tips to turn around a bad day."

FMF presents The Bible on Debt posted at Free Money Finance, saying, "Thoughts on what the Bible says about debt."

Wherever St. Paul went, there was a riot... Wherever I go, they serve tea.
-Michael Ramsey, former Archbishop of Canterbury.

Richard H. Anderson presents Luke-Acts is a work full of cultic material posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos.

Ken (Wickle) presents Book Review: ?On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness? posted at A True Believer's Weblog, saying, "Wickle reviews the recently-released fantasy novel by singer-songwriter Andrew Peterson, 'On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.'"

(In response to those who tell him, “I don’t believe in God”) “Really? Which god is it that you don’t believe in?”
- N.T. Wright

Drew Tatusko presents Todd Bentley is an Adulterer - Period. posted at Notes From Off-Center, saying, "How would you interpret an 'unhealthy emotional relationship' with another woman if it is a relationship that your partner has been nurturing? Is this adultery? How does this relate to a physical relationship? Are they equally offensive or is one worse than the other?"
Diane R presents Which Jesus? posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet, saying, "Too many churches are teaching "another Jesus." Will the real Jesus please stand up?"

We may note in passing that Jesus was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three results---Hatred---Terror---Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild admiration.
- C. S. Lewis

andriel presents Introduction to the Antichrist posted at ReturningKing.com.

Jeremy Pierce presents Augustine on Civil Government: The Two Cities posted at Parableman, saying, "As part of a larger series on Augustine's social thought and views on religion in society, this post looks at his view of what he calls the City of God and the earthly city."

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.
- G. K. Chesterton

Chris McClure presents Managing Stress posted at Panhandle Poetry and Other Thoughts.

Lillie Ammann presents Always the Victim? posted at All Saints Anglican Church of San Antonio, saying, "Devotional by Fr. Chip Harper compares how Joseph responded to abuse by his brothers to today's society, in which victimization is in vogue."

All of us to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not ‘get’ it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel - seeing more of its truth.
- Tim Keller

Jake Bouma presents A look at the declining membership of the ELCA posted at JakeBouma.com.

Tom Gilson presents The Present Future posted at Thinking Christian, saying, "Western churches’ work has changed over the past few decades. It is a missionary enterprise now..."

Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words.
- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

Ian presents Why I Think John Piper's 'Christian Hedonism' View Sucks (And Also What's Good About It Too) posted at Philosophical Orthodoxy, saying, "This about the deep ethical problems I find with Piper's Christian Hedonism and what I still find valuable in the view."

Meg presents Bible Thumping posted at Simpson's Paradox, saying, "a little VBS humor."

There is something precious in our being mysteries to ourselves, in our being unable ever to see through even the person who is closest to our heart and to reckon with Him as though He were a logical proposition or a problem in accounting.
- Rudolf Bultmann

John presents Twelve Qualities Every Church Needs in a Pastor posted at Light Along the Journey.

Rey presents Pentecost in a New Key posted at The Bible Archive.

Jesus has not come to make us safe. He has come to make us brave. In fact, if it never feels dangerous, I should check to see if it is Jesus I am following.
- Gary Haugen

That concludes Christian Carnival CCXXXVIII. Hope you enjoyed the quotes. I know you enjoyed the posts.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of Christian Carnival, being hosted at Thinking Christian, using the carnival submission form. Visit the blog carnival index page for more details.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi

The Faith of Barack Obama, by Stephen Mansfield: The Complete Review Series

For ease of navigation, I'm providing the links to the entire review series of The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield in one post.

Happy navigating.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi




The Faith of Barack Obama: An Introduction to a Book Review Series

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 1) -- A Double Prologue

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 2) -- A Balanced Look at Trinity United?

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 3) -- A Public, Postmodern God?

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 4) -- Faces of Faith, Hope for Healing, and Lessons Learned

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 4) -- Faces of Faith, Hope for Healing, and Lessons Learned

In this final installment of my review series, I wanted to briefly examine the final two chapters, "Four Faces of Faith" and "A Time to Heal," and then try to sum up what I learned from the book, about Barack Obama and about the difficulties of discussing topics like "faith."

The penultimate chapter delves beyond the book's title and offers a brief caricature of the faiths of three of the other key players in the current political arena: John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush.

McCain is portrayed as the poster child of the faith of a bygone era, a faith uncomfortable speaking of itself, a faith, molded by its unique locus in American history, that "came to understand religion as the power behind character, as the fuel of right behavior." Hillary's faith, according to Mansfield, is the product of a number of intersecting factors: Her Methodist upbringing, the influence of an ultra-liberal youth minister, and her infamous marital experiences, culminating in the spiritual journey she underwent in order to survive.

The most unflattering picture, though, is reserved for George W. It is the picture of a man who had very little indication of a genuine faith for the better part of his life, a man fighting the demons associated with trying to live up to his namesake. It is the picture of a man who's "discipleship" began with an Osteen-esque invitation to "say a little prayer and accept Jesus into your heart." It is the picture of a man whose mommy had to call over the most renowned evangelist in the world (Billy Graham) to the house in hopes that he might help little Georgy find his way, a visit where our president "was humbled to learn that God sent His Son to die for a sinner like me." A few years later, after God had led him to a position as owner of the Texas Rangers, George felt like God was calling him to a higher duty: "I feel like God wants me to run for president."

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Mansfield concludes the book by talking about "healing," and by discussing a society yearning for it. This from the final chapter of a book about Barack Obama. It's a fitting culmination of what I noticed early on to be a messianic undercurrent to the narrative as a whole. Mansfield does not expressly say that Obama is the one who will bring about that healing. No. He is more subtle: "Obama is more significant for who he is than for what he does politically. Whether or not he wins his party's nomination and the presidency, Obama is meaningful to our time for what he represents."

I couldn't agree more.

So what did I learn from this book?

About Barack Obama and his faith, truth be told, it's tough to say. His views on hot-button issues are already quite public. I actually learned more about the faith of Jeremiah Wright than I did of Barack Obama. But here's the thing. The book will not give you merely an instant Polaroid of Obama's faith, and I think that's where its true value lies. Mansfield is painting a picture, one that is framed by an accurate encapsulation of faith and politics in America today. It is within that frame that the picture of Obama and his faith is drawn. And it is that lovely compatibility of frame and portrait that I found so appealing about the book.

About trying to describe a man's faith, even a man as public and open as Obama, I learned (or rather, I reinforced my belief that) such a task is like trying to describe how or why you love your wife, or your kids, or God. Yes, one can point to facts, clues, influences, evidences and testimonies. But at the end of the day, as I said in the introduction to this series, "No one knows the faith in a person's heart except that person and God, and often times, not even the former."

But this man is different. This man claims he wants to lead us, and to lead us in a very particular direction. To that extent, we should seek to discover, by facts, clues, influences, etc., all that we can about the faith of Barack Obama. And Mansfield does about as good a job in helping us do so as can be expected.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi


**Previous Posts in this Series:

The Faith of Barack Obama: An Introduction to a Book Review Series

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 1) -- A Double Prologue

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 2) -- A Balanced Look at Trinity United?

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 3) -- A Public, Postmodern God?

Rick Warren, Barack Obama, John McCain and "The Jesus Question"

Yesterday, Michael Spencer expressed some skepticism about what he would hear when Rick Warren asked Barack Obama and John McCain "The Jesus Question," as he had promised he would.

Well, he did. This is a transcript of the two candidates' responses:

First, to Obama.

RICK: THE FIRST ONE IS CHRISTIANITY. NOW YOU'VE MADE NO DOUBT ABOUT YOUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO TRUST IN CHRIST AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN ON A DAILY BASIS? I MEAN, WHAT DOES THAT REALLY LOOK LIKE?

OBAMA: AS A STARTING POINT, IT MEANS I BELIEVE IN THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR MY SINS AND THAT I AM REDEEMED THROUGH HIM. THAT IS A SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND SUSTENANCE ON A DAILY BASIS. I KNOW THAT I DON'T WALK ALONE, AND I KNOW THAT IF I CAN GET MYSELF OUT OF THE WAY, THAT I CAN MAYBE CARRY OUT IN SOME SMALL WAY WHAT HE INTENDS. AND IT MEANS THAT THOSE SINS THAT I HAVE ON A FAIRLY REGULAR BASIS HOPEFULLY WILL BE WASHED AWAY.

BUT WHAT IT ALSO MEANS, I THINK, IS A SENSE OF OBLIGATION TO EMBRACE NOT JUST WORDS BUT THROUGH DEEDS THE EXPECTATIONS THAT GOD HAS FOR US. AND THAT MEANS THINKING ABOUT THE LEAST OF THESE. IT MEANS ACTING -- WELL, ACTING JUSTLY AND LOVING MERCY AND WALKING HUMBLY WITH OUR GOD. AND THAT, I THINK TRYING TO APPLY THOSE LESSONS ON A DAILY BASIS KNOWING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO FALL A LITTLE BIT SHORT EACH DAY AND KIND OF TRYING TO BE ABLE TO TAKE NOTE AND SAY, WELL, THAT DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT THE WAY I THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BUT MAYBE I CAN GET A LITTLE BIT BETTER. IT GIVES ME THE CONFIDENCE TO TRY THINGS INCLUDING THINGS LIKE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.


And then, to McCain:

RICK: YOU'VE MADE NO DOUBT ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN. YOU PUBLICLY SAY YOU ARE A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU AND HOW DOES FAITH WORK OUT IN YOUR LIFE ON A DAILY BASIS? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?

MCCAIN: MEANS I'M SAVED AND FORGIVEN AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE WORLD. OUR FAITH ENCOMPASSES NOT JUST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BUT THE WORLD. CAN I TELL YOU ANOTHER STORY REAL QUICK?

RICK: SURE.

MCCAIN: VIETNAMESE KEPT US IN PRISON IN CONDITIONS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR TWO OR THREE TO A CELL. THEY DID THAT BECAUSE THEY KNEW THEY COULD BREAK DOWN OUR RESISTANCE. ONE OF THE TECHNIQUES THAT THEY USED TO GET INFORMATION WAS TO TAKE ROPES AND TIE THEM AROUND YOUR BICEPS, PULL YOUR BICEPS BEHIND YOU, LOOP THE ROPE AROUND YOUR HEAD, PULL YOUR HEAD DOWN BETWEEN YOUR KNEES AND LEAVE YOU IN THAT POSITION. YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. ONE NIGHT I WAS BEING PUNISHED IN THAT FASHION. ALL OF A SUDDEN THE DOOR OF THE CELL OPENED, THE GUARD CAME IN, A GUY WHO WAS JUST WHAT WE CALL A GUN GUARD. HE JUST WALKED AROUND THE CAMP WITH A GUN ON HIS SHOULDER. HE WENT LIKE THIS AND THEN HE LOOSENED THE ROPES. HE CAME BACK ABOUT FOUR HOURS LATER, HE TIGHTENED THEM UP AGAIN AND LEFT. THE FOLLOWING CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE IT WAS CHRISTMAS DAY, WE WERE ALLOWED TO STAND OUTSIDE OF OUR CELL FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND THOSE DAYS WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE OR COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER ALTHOUGH WE CERTAINLY DID. AND I WAS STANDING OUTSIDE FOR MY FEW MINUTES, OUTSIDE MY CELL. HE CAME WALKING UP. HE STOOD THERE FOR A MINUTE AND WITH HIS HANDLE ON THE DIRT IN THE COURTYARD HE DREW A CROSS AND HE STOOD THERE AND A MINUTE LATER, HE RUBBED IT OUT AND WALKED AWAY. FOR A MINUTE THERE, THERE WAS JUST TWO CHRISTIANS WORSHIPPING TOGETHER.

I'LL NEVER FORGET THAT MOMENT.

For both men, therefore, the first words that jump out of their mouths was that "I am forgiven," "I am redeemed," "He died for my sins," "I am saved."

That troubles me, especially when coming from a presidential candidate. Not because the idea is untrue. Far from it. It is gloriously true; a central tenet of the faith once delivered.

What troubles me is that it is the narrower aspect of the larger truth. I am saved, redeemed and forgiven because, in Jesus Christ, the world is redeemed, saved and forgiven, and I am part of that.

To be sure, both men touched on that aspect in different ways after their initial, gut-level response. Obama spoke of the responsibility that stems from that individual redemption. McCain said that that redemption extends to the whole world, "not just the United States." He then offered what I thought to be a lovely parable about Christ being found even in the midst of the greatest of hardships, even in the midst of the horrors of war.

But the first thing both said was telling. It is, I believe, the central and most critical (not error, but) incompleteness about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in the world today. What God did in Christ was big, huge, cosmic. Reducing it to terms of "Jesus and me," while gravely important, cannot and should not be "the central message." If the gospel were a Russian doll, the "Jesus and me" bit would be one of the medium-sized dolls in the center.

Please God, may that grander vision sweep through your church, and may we begin to speak of Your redemption in the grandest of terms and the largest of contexts. May we begin to speak, at our first utterance, of Your plan and Your promise, inaugurated by Your Son, to fill all of creation with Your glory, with Your love, as the waters cover the sea. And may we begin to glimpse our vocation, given by grace and aided by Your Spirit, to by agents and ambassadors of that plan, that promise, that gospel.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi

P.S. By the way, if you missed any portion of the Saddleback Forum with the two candidates, Trevin has the whole thing in bite-sized YouTube clips at Kingdom People.

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 3) -- A Public, Postmodern God?

Today we look at Chapters 3 ("Faith Fit for the Age") and 4 "The Altars of State") of The Faith of Barack Obama. This is also where I start to look back on some of my pre-reading opinions on some of the issues raised, which now appear, if I may be so bold as to say, prophetic.

In Chapter 3, with another conscious effort to remain fair and objective, a la Chapter 2, Mansfield answers the question, "What kind of Christian is Obama?" The answer is straightforward and indellibly etched: Obama is a "Postmodern Christian" and an adherent of the so-called "Social Gospel," with all the standard connotations those terms instills.

The first is developed by examination of the man's own words and sentiments, from various sources. The second is implied by his 20-year affiliation with Trinity United Church in Chicago, although Mansfield leaves the reader with some wiggle-room by concluding with these words: "To be a member of a church is not necessarily to descend into mindlessness, and a mind as fine as Obama's is less likely to accept ideas unexamined than most."

Fair enough. But as to the "Postmodern" label, I think few would disagree that is an accurate badge of Obama's faith, and one, I would venture to guess, proudly worn by the man. Obama is clearly selective of what he accepts as "truth," proclaims a healthy modesty in even those, and is admittedly open to other truths being possessed by those who proclaim other faiths.

This is not what I, and many others, would say "postmodern Christianity" necessarily means, but I am well aware that it is the mainstream consensus, and in that sense, Obama appears to be a poster child for it. My main critique with Obama's Christianity is not that he is suspiscious and selective of truth claims, even those espoused by his own religion for centuries. No. My main critique of Obama's Christianity is that he seems still to regard the Bible as a rescepticle of individual truth claims which can be pitted one against the other, rather than as a single narrative of God's interration with His creation, with all its ebbs and flows that entails, and which must be read as a unified whole in order to understand the truth within it. But that's a diatribe for another day.

Then in Chapter 4, Mansfield sketches a picture of Obama's views of faith in public life, or rather, the development of those views. The story is told be examining Obama's statements during his Senatorial campaign in the Illinois senatorial race of 2004 against Alan Keys, the mezmerizing conservative, Roman Catholic orator who challenged Obama's Christianity at every opportunity. While Obama admits that Keys' eccentricities made him "an ideal opponent; all I had to do was keep my mouth shut and start planning my swearing-in ceremony," he also admits that Keys' accusations led to a re-evaluation of his views on faith in public life, culminating with his now-famous "Call to Renewal" speech in the summer of 2006, where those views had apparently been examined and solidified.

This is where the "prophetic" part of this series comes in. About two months ago, I wrote a piece on the transformation of Obama's views from the 2004 senatorial race to the Call to Renewal speech. In it, I asked the question: "Now I don't know whether Obama has re-considered the issue or whether he's simply playing politics nowadays. I'd like to think it's the former." According to the story Mansfield tells, it was, in fact the former: that the battle with Keys forced Obama to re-assess his views of public faith and come to place where he could give a reasonably detailed accounting of the issue. I must say, for the record, that Obama's fondness of a "civic religion" and an insistence that "Demoncracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religious-specific issues" are two things that deeply concern me. Having said that, the opposing view, and praxis, as demonstrated by the Religious Right over the last few decades, concerned me even more. I guess I would say that Obama's take on the issue is not where I'd want to be, but it is a healthy, though imperfect, transition toward somewhere I would want to be.

I've also written on the issue of faith and presidential politics in general, a sentiment echoed today in a brilliant piece by Michael Spencer at Jesus Shaped Spirituality. But for the one of the best discussion of "God in Public" that I've ever come accross, please take the time to download and listen to this lecture by N.T. Wright called "God in Public? The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow's World."

**NOTE: By the way, don't miss today's debate between the two candidates at Saddleback Church, moderated by Rick Warren. You can catch it on CNN or Fox News today at 8:00 E.T. I may very well interrupt this series to discuss the debate in my next post, inasmuch as it bears directly to the issues we've been discussing so far.**

Mansfield concludes Chapter 4 by discussing what has (wrongly, in my view) become the litmus test of a person's Christian faith in our generation: abortion. Once again, I've voiced my 2 cents on this issue a while back, and Mansfield's discussion of Obama's consistent pro-choice record has done nothing to sway that. His opposition to an Illinois bill outlawing the killing of babies who survived late-term abortions, however, cannot be reconciled with any Christian notion of agape, and serves to underline the main problem with Obama's interpretation of "civil religion," where an unarguable Christian value must sometimes give way to a higher purpose, in this case, a woman's right to choose. If there can be one thing said consistently about "the faith once delivered," it is that there is no higher purpose. One might rightfully disagree with what that purpose is or entails or calls us to, but when, as here, there is really no room for reasonable disagreement, that should really be the end of the inquiry. If the abandonment and killing of babies born alive, despite an attempted abortion, may dent the iron foundation of Roe v. Wade (which, consensus is, it wouldn't), then dent away, I say, and don't even peek back.

Grace and Peace,
Raffi

**Previous Posts in this Series:


The Faith of Barack Obama: An Introduction to a Book Review Series

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 1) -- A Double Prologue

The Faith of Barack Obama: A Review Series (Day 2) -- A Balanced Look at Trinity United?