Thread by @crazypastor

Can we talk for a second about the pinnacle verse for fundamentalist Christianity when it comes to using Jesus to shit on other faith traditions?

Give it up for John 14:6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

I can almost hear Christo-fascists salivating now. Cut and dry, right? Other religious are FUCKED. Jesus wins. Let’s all go passive-aggressively pray for people we’ve never met who are going to hell, yea?

But those of you keeping score at home know what’s up.

Say it with me: fundamentalist Christianity doesn’t know shit about the Bible.

The Gospel of John’s central claim is that “Jesus is the tangible presence of God in the world” (NISB, 1937).

For the community of John, Jesus was a unique *particular* aspect of God, not an exclusive one. It was meant to bring comfort to a besieged community.

Interpreting John 14:6 as saying “other religions and faith traditions are FUCKED” (which I have heard countless times) is like seeing a grieving person who had just lost a spouse and screaming in their face, “FUCK EVERYONE ELSE AM I RIGHT”

It’s #TheOffice scene where Robert California calls Dwight and others ‘winners,’ and Dwight won’t stop and keeps badgering until he pushes Robert to reluctantly call the other people ‘losers.’

John 14:6 is a way the community of storytellers (who eventually and collectively became known as “St. John”) are comforting Jesus followers living on the margins and under oppression. “Jesus is the only way to get to God.” FOR THEM. THEY’RE ALREADY FOLLOWING HIM.

Using that verse to argue against universal salvation — what TONS of verses flat out name — is the ultimate #biblical illiteracy; it’s reading shit into the Bible that’s not even close to there.

There are even parts of John itself (like 3:15, the redheaded stepchild of 3:14), which directly names, in no uncertain terms, that God didn’t come into the world to judge the world. Riddle me that, evangelicals.

Universal salvation is *dripping* off the pages of the Second Testament, y’all.

The first letter of John (4:8) — “Whoever doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.”

And this word for love is intense, it’s the type of love (agape) that you can’t fucking fake.

That kind of all-encompassing, overwhelming, holy-shit-what-is-this love? That’s God, y’all.

(YES I JUST TWEETED A GIF OF THIS VIDEO BECAUSE HADDAWAY IS A GODDAMN NATIONAL TREASURE)

It’s like the apostle Paul, who is normally worshiped by conservative evangelicals, never said this (in one of the letters he actually wrote):

“Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come...

“…nor height, nor depth” (YES HE IS STILL GOING) “nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

That’s Romans 8, by the by.

And I have heard Christians straight up quote that verse and then add their own coda.

“Yes, but.” “That obviously doesn’t include sin/homosexuality/whatever the fuck ever” etc...

I mean, what utter contempt for the Bible.

As Christians we trust in Jesus telling us that he took on flesh so that we could have life, and have it abundantly.

And some of them out here Christsplaining that what Jesus REALLY meant to say was that Muslims and Jews and Hindus are going to hell.

The Gospels were written to Jewish and Gentile Christians living under occupation after two Roman-Jewish Wars had devastated their land and identity.

They are love letters not dogmatic screeds.

“BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN OR YOU WILL BURN FOR ALL ETERNITY” is such an unhinged, sadistic theology.

(Also: the Christian view of hell is another thread entirely.)

This is the same theological thought process that will read how Ishmael and Isaac are both blessed through Abraham and promptly declare that God hates Arabs.

Jesus never once demands (or even asks, let’s be real) his disciples to “accept him into their heart” as a “personal Lord and Savior.”

That’s Hallmark piety dressed up as serious theology.

I mean, no wonder we’re seeing the hell-obsessed columns of fundamentalist Christian purity crumble down before our eyes, live on YouTube, projectile-vomiting from its charlatans' mouths.

The so-called “Christian Right” has sacrificed what little morals it had on the altars of unbridled power and exclusivist white supremacy.

This shit is happening right now.

Anyways.

We can keep pretending like progressives are twisting the Bible to come up with gay unicorn orgy policies or whatever the fuck

but fundamentalist Christianity is the least ‘bible-believing’ tradition I know of.

They don’t follow Jesus, they just want him to stay right the fuck on their side.

And condemn everyone on the other side.

And he’s not gonna do that.

But let the bible be damned — conservative Christianity won’t let Holy Scripture get in the way of gleefully damning everyone we don’t like to hell.

Far fucking out, y’all.