CBS News Confuses James and John

[Brown]

CBS News ran this story under the headline: "John's Gospel Irks Bush Camp." The subject of the story is John Kerry's use of scripture in a recent speech:

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry cited a Bible verse to criticize leaders who have "faith but has no deeds," prompting President Bush's spokesman to accuse Kerry of exploiting Scripture for a political attack.
...
Kerry never mentioned Mr. Bush by name during his speech at New North Side Baptist Church Sunday, but aimed his criticism at "our present national leadership." Kerry cited Scripture in his appeal for the worshippers, including James 2:14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"

The citation was to the epistle of James, not the gospel of John. Oops.

Moreover, the language in the book of James is, shall we say, controversial. Martin Luther wished the book had never existed, because he swallowed Paul's line that men are saved by grace, not by works. Yet the book of James places great emphasis on works, saying "Faith without works is dead." (James 2:17)

A typical "resolution" of the apparent contradiction between James and Paul is that good deeds follow from faith. The thinking is that, if you are a Christian, this fact will be reflected not only in your words but in your deeds.

And this seems to me to be Kerry's message. The message is NOT that Bush is not a Christian. Rather, the message is that profession of faith is one thing, but acting compassionately according to that faith is another.

Kerry was speaking in a church at the time, and I am inclined to give him a little latitude when speaking to such an audience. I am concerned, however, that Kerry may have injected religion into his campaign, which is in my judgment a mistake. This campaign ought not to be about "Who is the better Christian?"

 

[Monketi Ghost]

I don't think he means it to be "who's the best Christian"... I think he means that Bush isn't a good Christian according to the articles of his own belief system.


Oops, Brown, I posted this and then remembered that you have me on ignore, so I edited it to call you a c***sucker too.

 

[patnray]

I think the "John" they were refering to in the headline was John Kerry, not John of the gospels...

 

[aerocontrols]

CBS News ran this story under the headline: "John's Gospel Irks Bush Camp." The subject of the story is John Kerry's use of scripture in a recent speech:
The citation was to the epistle of James, not the gospel of John. Oops.

I think the headline is (as headlines tend to be) a play on words:

John's Gospel = John Kerry's religious teachings


Edit to note that patnray got there first while I was looking up an alternate definition of 'gospel'.

 

[Brown]

I think the "John" they were refering to in the headline was John Kerry, not John of the gospels...

I think you and aerocontrols are right. I think it was a play on words.

I was thrown off by the "gospel" part. Not all of the New Testament is "gospel" (the epistle of James in particular in not a gospel) and what Kerry said is not really "gospel," either. So I didn't make the connection.

Fortunately, there is no book of George in the Bible (although there is a story about a Burning Bush).