{"id":21109,"date":"2014-01-28T11:23:43","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T16:23:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=21109"},"modified":"2014-01-28T11:23:43","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T16:23:43","slug":"random-acts-of-evangelism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/01\/random-acts-of-evangelism.html","title":{"rendered":"Random Acts of Evangelism"},"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><div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both;text-align: none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2014\/01\/Evangelizing-Ehrman.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21119 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2014\/01\/Evangelizing-Ehrman.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"397\" height=\"520\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>This image came my way on Facebook. I know from experience the look on the faces of people who came to my door and tried to start a conversation with me about their faith by asking if I ever read the Bible, and I responded by mentioning that my PhD was on the Gospel of John.<\/p>\n<p>Rarely do those eager to share their faith have a genuine depth of knowledge about it. And rarely do they respond to a random encounter with a scholar by deciding to listen rather than seek to do most of the talking.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing one\u2019s faith is a great thing. But I think it needs to be approached with a greater openness to listening to and learning from others. Talking about your faith should transform you, and not just the other person. And I think that applies whomever one is talking to, and not only if you happen to find yourself trying to evangelize a Biblical scholar.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This image came my way on Facebook. I know from experience the look on the faces of people who came to my door and tried to start a conversation with me about their faith by asking if I ever read the Bible, and I responded by mentioning that my PhD was on the Gospel of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":21119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[1024,3204,7250,10870],"class_list":["post-21109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christianity-religion","tag-bart-ehrman","tag-evangelism","tag-meme","tag-scholars"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Random Acts of Evangelism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This image came my way on Facebook. I know from experience the look on the faces of people who came to my door and tried to start a conversation with me\" \/>\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\/2014\/01\/random-acts-of-evangelism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Random Acts of Evangelism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This image came my way on Facebook. I know from experience the look on the faces of people who came to my door and tried to start a conversation with me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/01\/random-acts-of-evangelism.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=\"2014-01-28T16:23:43+00:00\" \/>\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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