Sublime

The freedom to decide what is my own good is enshrined in Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.”

If you have ever witnessed an ongoing pattern of halfhearted belief and weak action on the part of a professing Christian, you have seen the scandal of nominal Christianity.

Now, of course, the epistle is an apologetic letter, written by a Christian to explain and defend Christian faith and practice. Its descriptions of second-century Christian life might be more aspirational than descriptive. Nonetheless, the observation that Christians live on a level that transcends the law is an important one, rich with meaning for

we see a proliferation of shallow commitments to Christ because of a cultural Christianity that hasn’t really revolutionized the person’s soul, and yet we’re skeptical of how authentic these conversions are in the Middle East, where people face persecution if they pursue their faith.”