Jack Pelham

You cannot know how all the facts fit together until you know all the facts.

Therefore, you should know this about yourself:

Your brain has faculties for making sense from the information it has. It can fill in the gaps, guess at patterns, and imagine reasons for why things are as they seem to be. And sometimes, you’ll be right. But many times, you’ll be wrong because you settled for an inaccurate interpretation, probably made from insufficient information. And you can keep on in that wrong belief for the rest of your life, adamantly defending it, even, and shunning those who oppose it.

Suppose a man just wanted to talk. Suppose he wanted to explore the world in conversation with others and get into the deep things of life—the wisdom of the ages.

But suppose he lived in a culture where, for whatever reason, almost nobody else had such a desire. And suppose that of those who did have that desire, very few were any good at it. Suppose they were clumsy with their reasoning and hamfisted in their attempts to explain the fine details of whatever they mean. Suppose they had limited and dull vocabularies, and little experience at having deep rapport and trust with other people. And suppose they were already oversensitive from sour conflicts with others in the past.

Of a thousand injustices that happen on our watch,
We may perceive but a few—
Even while thinking ourselves keen watchmen
And being fiercely adamant about some of them.

There is nothing about the Bible
That keeps the fools away.
You’ll find them in the pews
And pulpits alike, making their own use
Of what it says and doesn’t say,
As if they had every bit as much right
To do that as the wise have
To wrestle with the truth of it all.

When I read the Bible,
I see the story of a few
Who were listening to God
And of many who were not—
Some of whom kept insisting they were,
Even as God disagreed—
Which just goes to show they weren’t.

Much hinges on how a Christian would answer these questions:

1. Is there a difference between how God would judge an unbeliever who commits murder and a believer who commits murder?
2. If so, what’s the difference, and why is there one?

Watch the ones
Who don’t seem to think
They can abide by the same rules
As does everyone else.

Do not ever
Let them be in charge
Of anything.

Is there any evil so great that
America would surely rise up
And destroy it?

If so, I don’t know
What that would be,
For I have seen all manner
Of wickedness tolerated here,
With no sign that it will be
Ended anytime soon.

In the compromised versions of Christianity, it is fashionable to believe that none but Jesus alone could be good. Yet here’s a man that Jesus himself endorsed as honest.

John 1:47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

And here’s another who had earned the reputation among the Christians of being good.

Acts 11:22 The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, ²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.

And another:

Luke 23:50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man…

And as it turns out, all Christians were expected to be righteous and upright and honest and filled with good works. What a travesty, then, that the modern take on such things for many is that to try to live like that is proud and that it is an affront to the grace of God!

Even with this evidence in hand, though, many will prefer to ignore it and go on believing in the total depravity of man—and even, apparently, of Christians.

It’s not hard to demonize a president, and sometimes they make it even easier. The Hitler-esque fists and the demon-red lighting on the facade of Independence Hall in this photo of Mr. Biden would be easy to criticize, even if the speech had been about something as benign as butterflies or wedding mints.