The Enthusiastic Election of the Embodiment of All Seven Deadly Sins

“The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices, or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings,[1] although they are not explicitly listed in the Bible. Behaviours or habits are classified under this category if they directly give rise to other immoralities.[2] According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth,[2] which are contrary to the seven heavenly virtues.” – Wikipedia

I recently read comments on a social media post by someone urging everyone to vote for Christian values by voting for Donald Trump. One comment caught my attention in the discussion and I have been dangling it around in my mind.

They asked how a vote for Trump was a vote for Christian values when “he embodies all seven deadly sins.”

There was no logical answer given to this valid question, only what I would describe as scripted Christianese word salad. There are a lot of mental gyrations any follower of Jesus must make in considering that voting for Trump in any way represents a vote for Christian values.

I would understand it more if Christians who support Trump would just state their true reasoning rather than veil it in Christian rationalization.

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I don’t have much else of my own to say in this writing other than put forward some links of several resources for those who like to reflect and listen to ideas.

I started my day by listening a second time to An Introduction to Joy by Rob Bell, now available on YouTube. Because I just wanted some encouragement, humor and positivity to start my day while I work.

When this video finished another came on which I let play and listened as I didn’t much feel like changing it up. This was an interview with Rob Bell in 2011 following the publication of his controversial book Love Wins. I listened to the whole thing and part way through I was struck with three responses.

First, I had the growing sense this interview became increasingly confrontational and seemingly aimed at entrapment and tarnishing his reputation.

Second, the logical and gracious way Rob Bell handled some of the questions and, thirdly, my perceived growing resistence for the interviewer to engage on the ideas in the book without a need to judge them as wrong or unacceptable despite these ideas existing within the Christian church long before current evangelical theology.

This spirit of fear of differing ideas and dismissiveness led me to want to form this collection of resources to address this question:

Why is even the possible consideration of the idea of a generous God and generative universe – and consideration that the Bible’s use of the word love might just mean what most humans typically understand it to mean at face value – so unpalitable to some Christians?

So with this, I invite the unafraid to explore…

One of my very favorite sermons by Rob Bell takes apart the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:22:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”

By referencing the origins of this metaphor he discusses two ways of looking at the world. It seems this may be the foundational worldview that affects all we believe, think and do.

If you want to explore the questions raised here, I believe this is a good starting place before proceeding to the next series of links.

Episode 102 | An Eye Full of Light (The RobCast)