with photos by D. Denise Dianaty
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Faith and Culture
Is there room in the world for the God who is love?
Is there room for Jesus in rightwing dogma?
What the American rightwing evangelicals are doing is not anything I recognize as the teachings of Jesus. It’s more Pauline faith than Christianity. Yet, it’s not really even the teachings of Paul. It is writings by Paul taken out of context, which American evangelicals have given primacy over the life and teachings of Christ.
Full disclosure: I remain a Christian. But, I am a Christian in the sense that I follow Jesus and try to live a Christ-centered life. That is, after all, the definition of the word. What I mean by “Christ-centered” faith: My Christianity is grounded in “God is love” and Jesus’s example of how we should strive to live through His life and teachings.
I also understand allegory and context, so I read scripture and believe with discernment, rather than belief by rote. I know the overarching theme of the Bible is God’s love and His desire for us to be in right relationship with Him. While I believe scripture is inspired by God, I discern that men have included their own context of the period in which the texts were written. I also know that Biblical literalists are interpreting a context out of step with the original meanings. I try to discern the over-arching…
