{"id":236,"date":"2023-08-14T16:34:27","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theintersectionoffaithandlife\/?p=236"},"modified":"2023-08-14T16:35:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T23:35:09","slug":"the-bible-is-radical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theintersectionoffaithandlife\/2023\/08\/the-bible-is-radical\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible is Radical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I read two articles this weekend that highlighted the radical nature of the Bible. In the first, \u201cThe Book Banners and I Have One Thing in Common,\u201d<\/a> Garret Keizer talks about his efforts to make banned books in his high school available and identifies the book that did radicalize him. The second, \u201cWhat Russell Moore Knew\u201d from Religious News Service led me to a National Public Radio<\/a> interview with Moore. He discusses the discomfort some American Christians feel with aspects of the Gospel\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
The Bible is full of radical messages. Courtesy of John-Mark Smith, pexels.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Keizer and the Bible<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In his New York Times<\/em> Guest Essay Opinion, Keizer says his inability to remember most banned titles suggests that they were not too significant. One book that influenced him greatly, however, was the Bible.<\/p>\n

It was the Bible that radicalized me. I came to Marx via the Magnificat, to the peace movement via the Sermon on the Mount. \u201cLet justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream\u201d \u2014 that was Martin Luther King Jr., but as any of his closest followers could have told me, he was quoting the Hebrew prophet Amos. It was the least restricted book of my childhood that proved the most subversive as I came of age.<\/p>\n

The Bible and Moore<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Moore has recently released a book titled, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/em>. He explains why he wrote this book. This explanation has received much attention.<\/p>\n

It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching \u2014 \u201cturn the other cheek\u201d \u2014 [and] to have someone come up after to say, \u201cWhere did you get those liberal talking points?\u201d And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, \u201cI\u2019m literally quoting Jesus Christ,\u201d the response would not be, \u201cI apologize.\u201d The response would be, \u201cYes, but that doesn\u2019t work anymore. That\u2019s weak.\u201d And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we\u2019re in a crisis.<\/p>\n

Russell Moore is the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today<\/em> and former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Although Moore had been a Donald Trump foe unlike his peers, he really became a target when he called out the leaders for white nationalism and criticized their response to a sexual abuse crisis.<\/p>\n

The Radical Bible<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I think that the Bible has always been subversive. The prophets in the Old Testament and Jesus\u2019 teachings in the Gospels challenge almost anyone who reads them seriously. There is a reason why slave owners cut out the liberating messages from the Scriptures when they gave them to the slaves.<\/p>\n

The prophets called the people of Israel and Judah back to God after they were conquered. They urged the people to practice the faith of their ancestors, to stop adopting idolatrous practices of neighboring societies, and to create economies in which the whole community thrived.<\/p>\n

Today, I stop and think when I hear Jesus talk to the \u201crich young man\u201d (Mark 10: 17-23) about giving away his possessions. How would Jesus would define as wealth and generosity in this day and age? Of course, I did not have a good answer for him. This is another passage from Jesus I find challenging. What changes do I need to make?<\/p>\n

But woe to you who are filled now,<\/span><\/p>\n

for you will be hungry.<\/p>\n

Woe to you who laugh now,<\/p>\n

for you will grieve and weep. (Luke 6:25)<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Bible has challenged people for centuries. It will continue to do so and hopefully bring conversion of heart and mind.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read two articles this weekend that highlighted the radical nature of the Bible. In the first, \u201cThe Book Banners and I Have One Thing in Common,\u201d Garret Keizer talks about his efforts to make banned books in his high school available and identifies the book that did radicalize him. The second, \u201cWhat Russell Moore […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5180,"featured_media":248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[95,101,98,104],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bible","tag-garret-keizer","tag-radical","tag-russell-moore"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bible is Radical<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I read two articles this weekend that highlighted the radical nature of the Bible. 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