{"id":13682,"date":"2013-03-28T07:20:24","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T11:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=13682"},"modified":"2013-03-28T07:20:24","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T11:20:24","slug":"letter-kills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/letter-kills.html","title":{"rendered":"The Letter Kills"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/03\/by-the-book-or-by-the-heart\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">This cartoon by David Hayward<\/a> might seem anti-Biblical to some. But that\u2019s only because they\u2019ve missed that the Bible itself directs attention away from its pages elsewhere. As <a href=\"http:\/\/bible.cc\/2_corinthians\/3-6.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Paul puts it<\/a>, \u201cThe letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.\u201d And yet many in our time bizarrely associate Christianity with letter-fixation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/files\/2013\/03\/read-for-permission.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"525\" height=\"639\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This cartoon by David Hayward might seem anti-Biblical to some. But that\u2019s only because they\u2019ve missed that the Bible itself directs attention away from its pages elsewhere. As Paul puts it, \u201cThe letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.\u201d And yet many in our time bizarrely associate Christianity with letter-fixation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,131,139,43,71,163],"tags":[1303,1625,1846,1848,2484,3110,3794,6493,6504,6521,6741,11708],"class_list":["post-13682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-christianity-religion","category-fundamentalism-religion","category-inerrancy","category-paul-and-his-letters","category-progressive-christianity-religion","tag-book","tag-cartoon","tag-christianity-religion","tag-christians","tag-david-hayward","tag-equality","tag-gay","tag-lesbian","tag-letter","tag-lgbt","tag-love","tag-spirit"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Letter Kills<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This cartoon by David Hayward might seem anti-Biblical to some. But that&#039;s only because they&#039;ve missed that the Bible itself directs attention away from\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/letter-kills.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Letter Kills\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This cartoon by David Hayward might seem anti-Biblical to some. But that&#039;s only because they&#039;ve missed that the Bible itself directs attention away from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/letter-kills.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-28T11:20:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/files\/2013\/03\/read-for-permission.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. 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