Friday, January 8, 2010

Is Sarah Palin a Christian?

Of course, I'm not omniscient, so I don't know...but she says that she is. I received a copy of her book Going Rogue for a Christmas gift and encountered this excerpt on pp. 22-23:

"One summer I attended a youth Bible camp in Big Lake....Looking around at the incredible creation that is Alaska—the majestic peaks and mignight sun, the wild waters and teeming wildlife—I could practically see and hear and feel God's spirit reflected in everything in nature. I reasoned that if God knew what He was doing in this magnificient creation, how much more did He know about me? If He is powerful and wise enough to make all this and thought also to create a speck like me, there surely must be a plan, and He'd know more than I did about my future and my purpose. I made the conscious decision that summer to put my life in my Creator's hands and trust Him as I sought my life's path.

"My siblings and I were baptized together in Big Lake's freezing, pristine waters by Pastor Paul Riley. I got into the habit of reading Scripture before I got out of bed every morning and making sure it was the last thing I did at night. Ever the pragmatist, I also tested God's promises. For example, God says in Scripture, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the LORD Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" [Malachi 3:10] As a kid, to me that meant that if I earned five dollars, I put fifty cents in the offering plate."
Perhaps you, like me, would have liked to see a more theologically robust statement of placing faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation...but I am inclined to give her the benefit of any doubt.

6 comments:

LoneWolfArcher said...

When I read that in her book I didn't realize how vanilla.it really was. Good observation. Looking back I wish she had been more specific and assertive about her faith in Christ as well.

Orlin said...

Yes Sir Sarah is and there is no doubt in my mind about that subject. Thank you. Orlin from Marquette.

Coach Sal said...

Even though she didn't go into any detail about faith in Jesus, the fact that she chose to be baptized indicates a decision that motivated her to action along the lines of Acts 2:38. Moreover, committing to both daily time in scripture and tithing are an indication of the kind of faith found in James 1:17-19. We've had far too many politicians who claimed to believe, but with no evidence of a transformed life.

Peter Matesevac said...

Funny, I just read this after writing a similar post about something Ann Coulter wrote.

D. Carl Larson said...

Well there is no way that she alone wrote her book. I've seen all the interviews she did as McCains running mate and she was so ignorant and so non-articulate that after reading these book quotes, one has to believe that her notes to the scribe were more like this; I believe in God. My parents gave me money to put in the plate at church. I got baptised. When will people wake up and just ask the question; Does her being believer, alone, qualify her to be a political figure? My opinion-no

Ken said...

Sargon, being a believer (or an atheist, for that matter) does not automatically qualify anyone for political office. And, as I'm sure we all know, she undoubtedly had assistance in writing the book.

Nevertheless, her personal life combined with her stated beliefs consistently show that she believes in Jesus Christ as her Savior. I'm content with that. That was the original point of this post.