From Dreher: In the last post, I highlighted Michael Brendan Dougherty's contention that Americans are theologically illiterate. Well, here's Exhibit A: a fascinating, and illuminating, controversy started byJoe Carter, who questioned whether or not Barack Obama is a Christian. As a statement of minimal Christian orthodoxy -- that is, what it is necessary to believe to be a Christian -- the Nicene Creed is as basic as it comes. And yet, in a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani, published in full the other day by Steve here on Bnet, Obama apparently professed a heterodox Christology:
FALSANI: Who's Jesus to you?(He laughs nervously)
OBAMA:
Right.Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he's also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher.
And he's also a wonderful teacher. I think it's important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.
Unless Obama was being incredibly and uncharacteristically inarticulate, this is heterodox. You cannot be a Christian in any meaningful sense and deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. You just can't.
Christian Gate Keepers Declare Obama Not Christian
Monday November 17, 2008
Crunchy Con's Rod Dreher has joined with Joe Carter to declare that Obama is not a Christian. What do you think? Do you have to believe everything in the Nicene Creed to be a Christian? Is the Nicene Creed open to interpretation? By heterdox Christology, does Dreher imply that there is only one way Christians have approached the divinity of Jesus? What do people gain by saying that another person is religiously illegitimate? I wonder...
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About Progressive Revival
Diana Butler Bass and Paul Raushenbush both stand firmly within the Mainline Protestant tradition and, along with guest bloggers of all religious backgrounds are dedicated to the revival of religious progressivism and its influence in American politics.
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Diana Butler BassDiana Butler Bass is a commentator and scholar in American religion. She is the author of seven books including A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009).
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Paul RaushenbushModerator of the Progressive Revival blog and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University.
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Anyone can clearly see that Obama is a christian. Although he doesn't speak in biblical terms. We all know where he is coming from. He has to be politically correct first, because he represents all races, creeds, colors & religions when he represents the U.S. I'm sure that if he had it his way he would sing & shout like any other christian! But he is the President, so he has to remain Cool at all times! Let's support our President, not beat up on him. Remember, God doesn't make mistakes! This is the appointed time & season for Obama!!!
What makes someone a Christian is simply whether he or she has been baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There has never been any other test, at least not with historic orthodoxy. People who condemn the orthodoxy of another might take a look at the log in their own eye.
The Nicene Creed has never been used by the church as a personal creed, it's always been a corporate creed, by which churches as groups judge themselves as orthodox. The personal creed is the Apostles Creed. That's the one that you would look for if you were really concerned about the historic Christian faith.
But the church, in its practice, has always said that a person is accountable for his or her faith to his or her own congregation. If the board of elders at Trinity UCC considers Mr. Obama a Christian, their judgment has to hold for the rest of us, and their judgment must continue to hold until such time as he joins some other church. Any pundit who pretends to be concerned about orthodoxy ought to have a high enough view of the church to understand that such judgments on a person are restricted to the church, and not given to the pundit.
God save us from unchurchly orthodoxy.
What difference does it make WHAT his religion is? He could be an Atheist for all I care, just so he does his best as the next president of this the USA! As to trying to "judge" where he ranks on some artificial rules as to what makes "a Christian?" I don't even think anyone should be judging that. It is Obama's business...not the people of this country. Religion is a personal matter.
I don't know about 2004 and this Falsani interview, but during this year's primary season, I saw a video where President-Elect Obama stated categorically that he believed that Jesus Christ was his lord and savior. Sounds like a Christian to me...though it doesn't really matter to me personally, one way or the other, if he is or isn't.
Doesn't the Bible say "judge and ye shall be judged"? So who are you to judge anyone? Besides whatever happened to separation of church and state? Isn't that why our forefathers escaped England and its religious and other persecutions? Give him a chance after all look what we put up with for the last 8 years. By now we should be able to tolerate anything. We have only to go up.....
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