"Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that 'God helps those who help themselves.' That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin's wisdom not biblical; it's counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor."
-----Bill McKibben, in his Harper's magazine essay, "The Christian Paradox"
Monday, August 08, 2005
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2 comments:
I thought this was interesting because I just finished the Poisonwood Bible, in which a wrong-headed Baptist preacher completely mucks up a mission in the Congo. One of the preacher's favorite phrases in the book was "God helps those who help themselves." He continually used that logic to try and shove his round American peg into the square hole that is Africa. Good writing.
Couple things...
1. Why have I not gotten my new Harper's magazine yet?
2. I had the same experience when I read The Poisonwood Bible. It was so frustrating to see how wrong things were going and yet I was completely drawn in by the story and the good writing. The different voices were remarkable.
3. As for the phrase "God helps those.... " I think people want to believe it's in the Bible because it is very much the way they live anyway. Isn't it easier when scripture is descriptive vs. prescriptive? That way there's no need for refinement or change.
4. Sorry for the completely random comment from an absolute stranger. I'm not entirely sure how I ended up here, but here I am. I'll try to come back later as well. :)
Peace.
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