Faith & Works<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture\" \/>\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\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith & Works\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"slacktivist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fred Clark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/\",\"name\":\"Faith & Works\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/0173c85e46e7e0951fef5752bed78b6e\"},\"description\":\"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faith & Works\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/\",\"name\":\"slacktivist\",\"description\":\""Test everything; hold fast to what is good."\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/0173c85e46e7e0951fef5752bed78b6e\",\"name\":\"Fred Clark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e23731809f5a2c785d0416fc4211a51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e23731809f5a2c785d0416fc4211a51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Fred Clark\"},\"description\":\"Fred Clark is a graduate of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now called Palmer Seminary), of Eastern College (now called Eastern University) and of the fundamentalist Timothy Christian High School (still fundamentalist and still called Timothy Christian High School, but not really thrilled to have a snarky, liberal, tree-hugging, pro-choice, pro-GLBT, peacenik, commie, evolutionist as such a vocal alumnus). A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. You can reach him via email at slacktivist at hotmail dot com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/author\/fredclark\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Faith & Works","description":"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture","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\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Faith & Works","og_description":"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/","og_site_name":"slacktivist","article_published_time":"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00","author":"Fred Clark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fred Clark","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/","name":"Faith & Works","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00","dateModified":"2004-03-30T16:35:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/0173c85e46e7e0951fef5752bed78b6e"},"description":"Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment "was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faith & Works"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/","name":"slacktivist","description":""Test everything; hold fast to what is good."","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/0173c85e46e7e0951fef5752bed78b6e","name":"Fred Clark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e23731809f5a2c785d0416fc4211a51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e23731809f5a2c785d0416fc4211a51e?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Fred Clark"},"description":"Fred Clark is a graduate of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now called Palmer Seminary), of Eastern College (now called Eastern University) and of the fundamentalist Timothy Christian High School (still fundamentalist and still called Timothy Christian High School, but not really thrilled to have a snarky, liberal, tree-hugging, pro-choice, pro-GLBT, peacenik, commie, evolutionist as such a vocal alumnus). A former managing editor of Prism magazine, Fred worked in the parachurch nonprofit world for a decade and then for a decade in the newspaper biz. He began blogging in 2002. In 2003 he began writing a review of the best-selling Left Behind series. Eight years later he still hasn\u2019t finished reviewing the second book of that series and the experience has left him a broken shell of a man. Fred knows the difference between the possessive \u201cits\u201d and the contraction \u201cit\u2019s,\u201d and he is acutely bothered when others mistakenly confuse the two, yet he himself just kind of instinctively types the apostrophe whether or not it belongs there. Some feel this is his greatest hypocrisy, but those who know him better know better. He\u2019s guilty of much greater hypocrisies. Jesus loves Fred far more than Fred loves Jesus, but he at least has the decency to recognize the unfairness of that lopsided relationship and he has long wished that he were better at maybe kind of sort of doing something more to correct that some day. A Baptist, an amateur, a Gen-Xer, a Gemini and a Mets fan, Fred lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with his wife and two teenage daughters. 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{"id":685,"date":"2004-03-30T16:35:25","date_gmt":"2004-03-30T16:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/"},"modified":"2004-03-30T16:35:25","modified_gmt":"2004-03-30T16:35:25","slug":"faith-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2004\/03\/30\/faith-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith & Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Kerry's comment \"was beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse and a sad exploitation of Scripture for a political attack.\"<\/i><\/p>\n

That's from this article, \"Bush Campaign Blasts Kerry's Bible Quote<\/a>.\" <\/p>\n

Here's what Democratic candidate John Kerry said:<\/p>\n

\"The Scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? \u2026 When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion?\"<\/i><\/p>\n

The passage Kerry quotes \u2014 James 2:14 \u2014 was one I cited quite a bit when I worked for a group called \"Evangelicals for Social Action.\" Our whole agenda at ESA was to get evangelicals to \"walk the talk\" \u2014 to live their faith in deed as well as in word.<\/p>\n

Martin Luther famously called the book of James \"an epistle of straw\" since its emphasis on works and action could be seen as undermining his emphasis on salvation by grace alone. (I don't see James as contradicting Luther, but apparently Luther did.)<\/p>\n

James seems pretty timid, though, compared to 1 John, which is full of this kind of thing:<\/p>\n

How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.<\/i><\/p>\n

That passage \u2014 the entire chapter \u2014 was a favorite of Martin Luther's namesake, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n

Dr. King, according to Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt, regularly went \"beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse.\" Dr. King was a ruthless, notorious \"exploiter\" of scripture.<\/p>\n

I'd weigh in here on how ridiculous and hypocritical it is for the Bush campaign to suddenly claim that scripture-quoting is off limits, except that Amy Sullivan<\/a> and Kevin at Lean Left<\/a> have already said everything I'd want to on the subject. (See also this commentary<\/a>, from Avedon Carol of The Sideshow<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Schmidt's bizarre claim is that only certain people \u2014 his people \u2014 are allowed to quote scripture. James' strawy point is that it doesn't matter what you say, it matters what you do. Allow me to exploit one more passage, from Matthew 7. This time it's Jesus talking:<\/p>\n

You will know them by their fruits \u2026 Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.<\/i><\/p>\n

Or, as they say in writing workshops: show,<\/i> don't tell.<\/p>\n

UPDATE:<\/b> Corrected to get Kevin's name right. (sorry, Kevin) Speaking of whom, one observation in his post<\/a> that struck me as particularly astute was how very Catholic<\/i> this passage from James is (hence Luther's dislike of it). One wonders how much the brouhaha over Kerry's quoting of scripture arises from his choice of this particular scripture, and whether part of the dynamic at work here may be some of the perennial Protestant\/Catholic dispute.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"