{"id":7571,"date":"2012-04-30T09:16:37","date_gmt":"2012-04-30T13:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=7571"},"modified":"2012-04-30T09:16:37","modified_gmt":"2012-04-30T13:16:37","slug":"should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html","title":{"rendered":"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A post<\/a> by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a nutshell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Should Christianity be about believing that which is unbelievable \u2013 accepting claims about miracles and the supernatural, for instance \u2013 or about living in an \u201cunbelievable\u201d manner \u2013 by radically loving enemies, and the like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know that there are some who will immediately object that this is not an either\/or scenario. Fine, then think about the question in this way: Which is more important? If one was jettisoned but the other embraced and followed, would it still be Christianity? Would it be a better<\/em> version of Christianity<\/a> than others<\/a>?<\/p>\n

There are points in Jim\u2019s post I would quibble about, but I think the overarching point is an important one, summed up well when he writes:<\/p>\n

Christianity is both simpler and harder than most people make it out to be.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a nutshell: Should Christianity be about believing that which is unbelievable \u2013 accepting claims about miracles and the supernatural, for instance \u2013 or about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,139,163],"tags":[1846,2772,5677,6561,7682,9593,9906],"class_list":["post-7571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity-religion","category-fundamentalism-religion","category-progressive-christianity-religion","tag-christianity-religion","tag-doctrine","tag-jesus","tag-life","tag-morality","tag-progressive","tag-radical"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a\" \/>\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\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.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=\"2012-04-30T13:16:37+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. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html\",\"name\":\"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-30T13:16:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-04-30T13:16:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?","description":"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?","og_description":"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-30T13:16:37+00:00","author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html","name":"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-04-30T13:16:37+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-30T13:16:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"A post by Jim Burklo seems to me to pose a key question about what Christianity is, what it can be, and what it should be. Here is the question in a","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/04\/should-christianity-be-about-believing-the-unbelievable-or-doing-the-unbelievable.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should Christianity be about Believing the Unbelievable or Doing the Unbelievable?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}