His God & Ours
Patrick Henry Reardon on Why We Can Be Brothers & Sisters in Christ
Shortly after he assumed office earlier this year, the newly elected governor of Alabama created a considerable stir when he mounted a Baptist pulpit and declared, “If you have been adopted in God’s family like I have, and like you have if you’re a Christian and if you’re saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister.”
The ensuing comments on this declaration were predictable. For example, did it mean, asked his political opponents, that the governor of Alabama would favor Christian citizens of Alabama over non-Christian citizens of that great state? Would Jews, Muslims, and atheists receive equal protection and enjoy equal concern from the governor’s staff and administration? Since the makeup of Alabama’s population is roughly 107 percent Christian, these questions certainly appeared legitimate.
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Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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