clarification

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Feb 4, 2008 at 22:47

Dear Mr. Willruth,

Labeling someone an Evangelical is not Biblical. I never claimed to be an Evangelical. Denominations are man-made and lock people into cells. Organized religion is, in my opinion, just that: organized. It doesn't allow the development of the individual. I prefer to call myself a saved person. Anyone can be saved and God has put it into everyone's heart to know that He is. We are given a free will to choose. I believe the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and believe that it was inspired of God, not man-made. I do not have the power to convert anyone to any belief.

My grandfather was an Italian Jew and he didn't practice Judaism, but I was always interested in the Jewish faith. I never said that Jews don't matter, you have deliberately misunderstood me. You seem to be an intelligent person, so please don't be obtuse. The people of the New Testament only had the Scriptures (the Old Testament) as their guide. Everyone matters, Jews and Gentiles, although God has set aside Israel for the Jewish people, and He made it very clear that the Jews have been chosen for special purposes. Today there is so much turmoil in Israel but some day it will be ended. I have friends from many faiths and organized religions; they all know what I believe and I know their beliefs, and although we differ on many things, we are still friends. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16. Because I believe this, it makes me neither an Evangelical or any other organized religion's label. In Romans 12:18, the Apostle Paul, who by the way was a Jew, said: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." That is how I try to live and have interpreted this to mean what it says.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".