Posted on 06/13/2014 10:59:57 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
The Republican primary race in Virginia’s 7th district was a David and Goliath story from the beginning. [snip]
Brat’s spiritual life has long been as central to his identity, even though it has also been difficult to pigeonhole. He currently attends a Catholic church, but he also identifies as a Calvinist, and he lists four churches as affiliations on his resume: St. Michael’s Catholic, Christ Church Episcopal, Third Presbyterian, and Shady Grove Methodist. He earned his bachelors from Hope College, a Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Mich., which is historically affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, a Protestant denomination that sprouted during the 17th century. He got a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, a Presbyterian school, but while there wrote a thesis on logical positivism and its impact on economic science—not a typical choice for someone earning a ministerial degree. He then switched his focus and earned a Ph.D. in economics from American University.
Through all of that, one aspect of his faith has been constant: Brat takes the Protestant work ethic seriously. Like many of his Tea Party colleagues, Brat is an Ayn Rand enthusiast, and coauthored a paper assessing the moral foundations of her writings in 2010. [snip]
He argues: “Church folk and my liberal pals are always preaching about inclusiveness and diversity. . . . However, a real test for liberal Christian types is whether they will reach out to capitalists!”
The thing that comes last in his plan? “Finally, I think Jesus told us to help our neighbor when they get in a bind,” he writes. “But that comes last in my little story here, not first.”
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Wow, he believes in biblical scripture. Burn him at the stake. /s
Capitalism is a practical implementation of Christianity — to serve one’s neighbor as oneself. No producer can be successful unless he pleases his customer.
Intellectual gravitas in the Congress. Whoda thunk it?
Fascinating.
OH NOES A CHRISTIAN!
DemocRATS ‘War On Christianity’ begins.
This space reserved for the ever incisive comments of Alex Murphy.
Please also block off responses 20-40 for indignant retorts against said comments of Alex Murphy.
He currently attends a Catholic church, but he also identifies as a Calvinist
So far...I likey.
Through all of that, one aspect of his faith has been constant: Brat takes the Protestant work ethic seriously. Like many of his Tea Party colleagues, Brat is an Ayn Rand enthusiast, and coauthored a paper assessing the moral foundations of her writings in 2010.
That's a lot of name-dropping. I think he's trying entirely too hard to appeal to conservative religious voters.
I’m a little bit nervous about the idea of being affiliated with four different churches. But I suppose he wants to reach out to conservative Christians of all stripes, as a politician.
When I was teaching, I belonged to the Conference on Christianity and Literature, which was started by Evangelicals but subsequently brought in Catholics and others. We got on fine, agreeing to disagree on some theological matters, but determined to work together against the atheists and death dealers who are corrupting our society.
That’s what “ecumenical” should mean—praying together, working together, but not compromising your beliefs down to a worthless “common denominator.”
I’m not quite sure how you can reconcile strict Calvinism with Catholicism, and I was surprised at how many of my Evangelical friends were unwilling to deal with the Calvinists as well. But I did have a couple of friends at Calvin College, and we did work together on issues where we could agree.
Sounds like he's a Jansenist. Or an Augustinian.
Hmmm. I’m thinkin’ tar and feathers. How dare he even think of blaspheming the libs?
I kid you not.
Well, he's half right.
You're right, we are few in number.
Admit it, you wouldn't want it any other way. ;)
There was a fellow in London named "Had-Jesus-Christ-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebones". He changed his name to Nicholas Barbon and started the first fire insurance company.
You can look it up.
Why is the Christian religion suddenly such a horrible thing? Don’t any Americans still believe in God, have they all converted atheism or Muslim?
Someone should corner these clowns who write like this,
“What’s wrong with God?” Make them defend their position.
I grew up in and around Calvinist Central, which would include Hope College and Calvin College. Calvinists are not Catholics in theology or practices. BTW, Amway = Calvinist and has delivered millions and millions to Calvinist causes. Amway has also delivered millions and millions to other causes including truly significant medical $$$.
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