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February 3rd, 2011
12:01 AM ET
Obama delivers major speech on personal faithBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor President Barack Obama gave an unusually personal speech about his religious faith on Thursday, saying that "it is the biblical injunction to serve the least of these that keeps me going and keeps me from being overwhelmed," in address to a prayer breakfast in Washington. The speech, delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast, comes on the heels of public opinion surveys that show only a minority of Americans know that Obama is a Christian and that a growing number believe he's a Muslim. "My Christian faith has been sustaining for me over the last couple of years and even more so when Michelle and I hear our faith questioned from time to time," the president said Thursday, referring to his wife. "We are reminded that ultimately what matters is not what other people say about us but that we are true to our conscience and true to our God." "When I wake in the morning, I wait on the Lord, I ask him to give me the strength to do right by our country and our people," Obama said later. "And when I go to bed at night, I wait on the Lord and I ask him to forgive me my sins and to look after my family and to make me an instrument of the Lord." The address was televised and streamed live on the White House website. The White House denied that the speech is a response to public misperceptions about Obama's religion. "He's a committed Christian, one who takes his faith very seriously," said a White House official before the speech. "There may be misunderstanding and some folks who attack his faith, but at the end of the day the American people know who he is and where he stands." A major survey last fall, however, showed that a substantial and growing number of Americans believes that Obama - a self-described Christian - is Muslim. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans believes Obama is a Muslim, up from about one in 10 Americans who said he was Muslim in 2009, according to the survey. It was conducted in July and August by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Fewer than half of Democrats and African-Americans, core components of Obama's political base, correctly identified Obama as Christian. The Rev. Joel Hunter, a Florida minister who is close to the president and was consulted about parts of Obama's Thursday speech, says he has encouraged Obama to open up about his faith. "He needs to openly declare himself a Christian and not settle for people's skepticism at that point," said Hunter, who leads an evangelical church in Orlando. "All of us ought to be able to say who we are and taken for our word. It's frustrating because he still has some people questioning his faith." Hunter says that he and the White House were caught off-guard by the results of last year's Pew survey on Americans' views of Obama's religion. On Thursday, Obama spoke at length about his prayer life, saying his prayers fall into three categories: for those who are struggling, for personal humility, and to be closer to God. "Faith reminds me that in spite of being one very imperfect man I can still help whoever I can, however I can, wherever I can for as long as I can," Obama said of the first kind of prayer, "and that somehow God will buttress these efforts." "The second recurring theme in my prayer is a prayer for humility," Obama said later. "God answered the prayer early on by having me marry Michelle." "The challenge is to balance this uncertainty and humility with a need to fight for deeply held convictions," he continued. "I pray for this wisdom very day. I pray for God to show me and all us the limits of our understanding." With regard to his third kind of prayer, Obama said the recurring theme "is that I might walk closer to God and make that walk my first and most important walk." The White House believes that some of the ignorance about the president's faith is the result of a misinformation campaign against him. "Under the radar there are of course those who would not tell the truth about him," said the White House official, who would not speak for attribution. "There are folks who have a misunderstanding of the president's faith and who repeat that misunderstanding." But Hunter said that the speech was as much a product of Obama settling into office and feeling more comfortable about revealing his personal side. The White House official echoed that point. "He's had a little over two years in office now and he's had some time to reflect on how his faith intersects with public work," the official said. "He's had the time to make those reflections." The National Prayer Breakfast has been an annual Washington event for 58 years. Obama had been a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago until spring 2008, when he left after videos surfaced showing his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, delivering controversial sermons about the United States. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband will speak at the breakfast on the congresswoman's behalf, her office announced Wednesday. Capt. Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut, will deliver the closing prayer at the event, the Arizona congresswoman's office said in a statement. Authorities say Giffords was the primary target of a shooting that left six people dead and 13 injured in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8. soundoff (1,298 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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True HOPE and CHANGE comes through Jesus Christ.
Go Obama!
Buster – since when was Paul the first Pope? Catholics believe that it was Peter who was the first pope, not Paul.
Yeah, but I don't care. It's all made up stuff. We can't agree on what happened in Viet Nam or the last election, and you think some story from two thousand years ago is real?
Yes Obama's faith declaeration is in conjunction with christian believe. It will also claer Americans from the state of ambiguity on who is their president.
well, if ya aks me, Bojangles is the wurst prez we have ever had minus that last idiot...Shrub or some name like that!
Amazing how many "Christians" are eager to post what they know are lies about someone they openly hate. Did you ever read the Bible? You aren't allowed to lie, and you aren't allowed to hate, and if you deceive just one person with this hateful gossip, you will never enter Heaven. Feel like retracting your statements, anyone? Of COURSE not. I don't believe in god either.
Sean, you are indeed right that the Bible says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," But you are wrong to say that, "Those who dont believe are his enemies." Satan believes but is God's enemy. Many don't know Christ for a variety of reasons – remember the Spanish conquistadores who entered into Indian cities and demanded everyone profess Christ or be killed. If we rightly view that as an abomination, why would God, whose ethical standards are so much higher than a human's, do in essence the same thing? Those who don't profess Christ are just as much children of God and worthy of our unquestioned love and devotion. For God commands us not to hate our enemies, but to give them everything we have, to turn the other cheek, and to love them. When speaking ill of anyone, remember those words from the Bible, particularly when claiming to be speaking on behalf of Christianity. Only kind words should be flowing from our mouths, even when speaking about our enemies.
Liz, this is why the Muslims keep telling us that we will be better off once we are all converted. Americans are devout haters, ready to stab and bite at any time. They are natural Muslims, ready to kill, and they do not believe the silly christian notions like "Love your Enemy," "turn the other cheek," and "play fair." Who would ever do those things? You'd have to be crazy. They aren't required of the Muslims, and so they don't feel guilty when they trick you or cheat you, or kill you. Convert today and save time.
God is getting tired of all this. He gave us the gift of life and the power to create heaven on earth so stop arguing about it and get a single payer health system going. The Pursuit Of Happiness demands it!
I've never been more disappointed in the President, I think.
If I wanted Jesus in the white house, I'd have fought for Huckabee.
I voted for Huckabee in the primary, but he wasn't on the ballot in the General election. I wasn't won over by McCain and wasn't EVER going to vote for a Democrat, nor "waste my vote" by voting for a 3rd party, so... I voted "Jesus Christ of Nazareth"... seriously!
The National Prayer Breakfast is a travesty to intelligent people. It is disappointing that Obama kowtows to the religious nuts in this country when he is clearly too intelligent to be among them. Look – Australia's prime minister had no problem winning election in spite of her atheism. When will this country grow up?
To be religious in any sense similar to what passes for religion in this country is not an attribute that will help the country. In the case of GW Bush, his religious convictions clearly made all our lives much worse.
Obama should proudly admit that the religious stuff is just posturing that elected officials have traditionally been subjected to by the stupid majority.
Lt. Col. Allen West for President in 2012!
+1
seems pretty evident to me he was a Christian.........during the elections when they had the forum on faith it was. Anyone that claims he isn't and also claims to be a Christian should be ashamed of themselves. Only God can judge a man's heart. And if someone has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who are you to say otherwise? Are there sins this man holds? Of course. But there are sins you hold. So while you a Christian is evident based on their fruits don't say "well this man isn't Christian b/c he doesn't believe A, B, C, or D or doesn't do certain things" b/c I guarantee that you do your share of wrong things and someone from looking at you could question how you can call yourself a Christian.
Always good to know that God has a place in the White House. When we wait on the Lord, and seek His face for guidance, He never fails. I thank God for a President who prays.
Lee
htp://lulu.com/SoRichIam
#Jesus
First, right-wingnuts were bent out of shape that Obama was a member of the Trinity United Baptist Church for 20 years. Now, they claim that he is a Muslim. Which is it?
Muslim.
This statement by Obama is very self-serving. By taking a single line item either his speech writer felt would be apropos or perhaps he knew it himself the thought that religion and politics is the same time is erroneous. His Socialistic strain is no different that a convict saying he was saved and is a born again Christian just in time to make his parole hearing. I can look the other way when an error has been made, but you can't make a leopard change it's spots.
He doesn't believe in a capitolistic system, nor a democracy. He doesn't believe in a nation of laws unless he define their validity. He doesn't believe he can make errors, but it's trhose that he trust to make judgement that make errors. His personal ego is large than the Whashington monument. And a part funny characature he has big ears but the aren't used for listening. Perhaps they are used for ballist.
Who cares whether he is Muslim, Christian or an Atheist. He is doing the right things to get this country back on the tracks!
If he was a Jewish Zionist Israeli or a Right Wingnut Westbury Baptist member, then I would be concerned.
Obama has a brain and he is using it! Yeah! Someone with intelligence is in the Whitehouse!!!
After years of an intelligence vacuum due to GWB!
Keep on trucking Obama!!! .... I'm sure glad I voted for you and not the Repugnants a couple of years ago!
Happy Happy, Joy Joy – Rainbows and puppy dogs. Nit.
Some suggested reading materials for BO and any others who want to venture outside the bible box:
1. Historical Jesus Theories, earlychristianwritings.com/theories.htm – the names of many of the contemporary historical Jesus scholars and the ti-tles of their over 100 books on the subject.
2. Early Christian Writings, earlychristianwritings.com/
– a list of early Christian doc-uments to include the year of publication–
30-60 CE Passion Narrative
40-80 Lost Sayings Gospel Q
50-60 1 Thessalonians
50-60 Philippians
50-60 Galatians
50-60 1 Corinthians
50-60 2 Corinthians
50-60 Romans
50-60 Philemon
50-80 Colossians
50-90 Signs Gospel
50-95 Book of Hebrews
50-120 Didache
50-140 Gospel of Thomas
50-140 Oxyrhynchus 1224 Gospel
50-200 Sophia of Jesus Christ
65-80 Gospel of Mark
70-100 Epistle of James
70-120 Egerton Gospel
70-160 Gospel of Peter
70-160 Secret Mark
70-200 Fayyum Fragment
70-200 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
73-200 Mara Bar Serapion
80-100 2 Thessalonians
80-100 Ephesians
80-100 Gospel of Matthew
80-110 1 Peter
80-120 Epistle of Barnabas
80-130 Gospel of Luke
80-130 Acts of the Apostles
80-140 1 Clement
80-150 Gospel of the Egyptians
80-150 Gospel of the Hebrews
80-250 Christian Sibyllines
90-95 Apocalypse of John
90-120 Gospel of John
90-120 1 John
90-120 2 John
90-120 3 John
90-120 Epistle of Jude
93 Flavius Josephus
100-150 1 Timothy
100-150 2 Timothy
100-150 T-itus
100-150 Apocalypse of Peter
100-150 Secret Book of James
100-150 Preaching of Peter
100-160 Gospel of the Ebionites
100-160 Gospel of the Nazoreans
100-160 Shepherd of Hermas
100-160 2 Peter
100-200 Odes of Solomon
101-220 Book of Elchasai
105-115 Ignatius of Antioch
110-140 Polycarp to the Philippians
110-140 Papias
110-160 Oxyrhynchus 840 Gospel
110-160 Traditions of Matthias
111-112 Pliny the Younger
115 Suetonius
115 Tacitus
120-130 Quadratus of Athens
120-130 Apology of Aristides
120-140 Basilides
120-140 Naassene Fragment
120-160 Valentinus
120-180 Apocryphon of John
120-180 Gospel of Mary
120-180 Dialogue of the Savior
120-180 Gospel of the Savior
120-180 2nd Apocalypse of James
120-180 Trimorphic Protennoia
130-140 Marcion
130-150 Aristo of Pella
130-160 Epiphanes On Righteousness
130-160 Ophite Diagrams
130-160 2 Clement
130-170 Gospel of Judas
130-200 Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
140-150 Epistula Apostolorum
140-160 Ptolemy
140-160 Isidore
140-170 Fronto
140-170 Infancy Gospel of James
140-170 Infancy Gospel of Thomas
140-180 Gospel of Truth
150-160 Martyrdom of Polycarp
150-160 Justin Martyr
150-180 Excerpts of Theodotus
150-180 Heracleon
150-200 Ascension of Isaiah
150-200 Acts of Peter
150-200 Acts of John
150-200 Acts of Paul
150-200 Acts of Andrew
150-225 Acts of Peter and the Twelve
150-225 Book of Thomas the Contender
150-250 Fifth and Sixth Books of Esra
150-300 Authoritative Teaching
150-300 Coptic Apocalypse of Paul
150-300 Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth
150-300 Melchizedek
150-400 Acts of Pilate
150-400 Anti-Marcionite Prologues
160-170 Tatian's Address to the Greeks
160-180 Claudius Apollinaris
160-180 Apelles
160-180 Julius Cassianus
160-250 Octavius of Minucius Felix
161-180 Acts of Carpus
165-175 Melito of Sardis
165-175 Hegesippus
165-175 Dionysius of Corinth
165-175 Lucian of Samosata
167 Marcus Aurelius
170-175 Diatessaron
170-200 Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony
170-200 Muratorian Canon
170-200 Treatise on the Resurrection
170-220 Letter of Peter to Philip
175-180 Athenagoras of Athens
175-185 Irenaeus of Lyons
175-185 Rhodon
175-185 Theophilus of Caesarea
175-190 Galen
178 Celsus
178 Letter from Vienna and Lyons
180 Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs
180-185 Theophilus of Antioch
180-185 Acts of Apollonius
180-220 Bardesanes
180-220 Kerygmata Petrou
180-230 Hippolytus of Rome
180-250 1st Apocalypse of James
180-250 Gospel of Philip
182-202 Clement of Alexandria
185-195 Maximus of Jerusalem
185-195 Polycrates of Ephesus
188-217 Talmud
189-199 Victor I
190-210 Pantaenus
193 Anonymous Anti-Montanist
193-216 Inscription of Abercius
197-220 Tertullian
200-210 Serapion of Antioch
200-210 Apollonius
200-220 Caius
200-220 Philostratus
200-225 Acts of Thomas
200-250 Didascalia
200-250 Books of Jeu
200-300 Pistis Sophia
200-300 Coptic Apocalypse of Peter
203 Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas
203-250 Origen
3. Historical Jesus Studies, faithfutures.org/HJstudies.html,
– "an extensive and constantly expanding literature on historical research into the person and cultural context of Jesus of Nazareth"
4. Jesus Database, faithfutures.org/JDB/intro.html–"The JESUS DATABASE is an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus that have survived from the first three centuries of the Common Era. It includes both canonical and extra-canonical materials, and is not limited to the traditions found within the Christian New Testament."
5. Josephus on Jesus mtio.co
m/articles/bissar24.htm
6. The Jesus Seminar, mystae.com/restricted/reflections/messiah/seminar.html#Criteria
7. Writing the New Testament- mystae.com/restricted/reflections/messiah/testament.html
8. Health and Healing in the Land of Israel By Joe Zias
joezias.com/HealthHealingLandIsrael.htm
9. Economics in First Century Palestine, K.C. Hanson and D. E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus, Fortress Press, 1998.
10. 7. The Gnostic Jesus
(Part One in a Two-Part Series on Ancient and Modern Gnosticism)
by Douglas Groothuis: equip.org/free/DG040-1.htm
11. The interpretation of the Bible in the Church, Pontifical Biblical Commission
Presented on March 18, 1994
ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCINTER.HTM#2
12. The Jesus Database- newer site:
wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php?t-itle=Jesus_Database
13. Jesus Database with the example of Supper and Eucharist:
faithfutures.org/JDB/jdb016.html
14. Josephus on Jesus by Paul Maier:
mtio.com/articles/bissar24.htm
15. The Journal of Higher Criticism with links to articles on the Historical Jesus:
mtio.com/articles/bissar24.htm
16. The Greek New Testament: laparola.net/greco/
17. Diseases in the Bible:
etd.unisa.ac.za/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-08022006-125807/unrestricted/02dissertation.pdf
18. Religion on Line (6000 articles on the history of religion, churches, theologies,
theologians, ethics, etc.
religion-online.org/
19. The Jesus Seminarians and their search for NT authenticity:
mystae.com/restricted/reflections/messiah/seminar.html#Criteria
20. The New Testament Gateway – Internet NT ntgateway.com/
21. Writing the New Testament- existing copies, oral tradition etc.
ntgateway.com/
22. The Search for the Historic Jesus by the Jesus Seminarians:
members.aol.com/DrSwiney/seminar.html
23. Jesus Decoded by Msgr. Francis J. Maniscalco (Da Vinci Code review)jesusdecoded.com/introduction.php
24. JD Crossan's scriptural references for his book the Historical Jesus separated into time periods: faithfutures.org/Jesus/Crossan1.rtf
25. JD Crossan's conclusions about the authencity of most of the NT based on the above plus the conclusions of other NT exegetes in the last 200 years:
faithfutures.org/Jesus/Crossan2.rtf
26. Common Sayings from Thomas's Gospel and the Q Gospel: faithfutures.org/Jesus/Crossan3.rtf
27. Early Jewish Writings- Josephus and his books by t-itle with the complete translated work in English :earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html
28. Luke and Josephus- was there a connection?
infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/lukeandjosephus.html
29. NT and beyond time line:
pbs.org/empires/peterandpaul/history/timeline/
30. St. Paul's Time line with discussion of important events:
harvardhouse.com/prophetictech/new/pauls_life.htm
31. See http://www.amazon.com for a list of JD Crossan's books and those of the other Jesus Seminarians: Reviews of said books are included and selected pages can now be viewed on Amazon. Some books can be found on-line at Google Books.
32. Father Edward Schillebeeckx's words of wisdom as found in his books.
33. The books of the following : Professors Marcus Borg, Paula Fredriksen, Elaine Pagels, Karen Armstrong and Bishop NT Wright.
34. Father Raymond Brown's An Introduction to the New Testament, Doubleday, NY, 1977, 878 pages, with Nihil obstat and Imprimatur.
35. Luke Timothy Johnson's book The Real Jesus
@fleagle1 you need speak without prejudice, in the youtube posted the video indicated that the video is based on evidences not that Obama admitted. You dont have to run people down because you dont like them.
well, Bojangles is about a lame example of a presidential putz as I have ever seen. he has dictator status in the US and he will be defeated in the next pres. election...any Repub. can win...seems to be a lot of this "we can't wait for the next idiot to run so we can replace the present or last one with the next". Such a recipe shows that the US is on borrowed time!
I could be wrong here but nothing in this article states that Obama says he is a Christi@n????? My faith in my God could be said for any religion that has a superior being. I think this article and the presidents words only show that he believes in a superior being and thats it. Think about it and read his exact words. Im not trying to single out the president here but he is the most powerful and influential person on the planet. He is loved and revered by almost all on the planet for his message of peace... He also admits that there is a God and believes in him strongly. The parallels here are very scary to someone the bible mentions but.......
The bible says LET GOD BE TRUE AND EVERY MAN A LIAR–THAT MEANS WHATEVER ANYONE ELSE HAS TO SAY ABOUT OBAMA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS SUBJECT TO BE A LIE BECAUSE ONLY GOD KNOWS THE TRUE HEART OF A MAN-SO ONLY GOD KNOWS IF THE PRESIDENT HAS ACKNOWLEDGED HIM AS GOD OF THE UNIVERSE AND JESUS AS HIS LORD AND SAVIOR, AND WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE PRESIDENT DOES NOT MATTER TO GOD AT ALL.