{"id":42040,"date":"2025-09-11T17:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42040"},"modified":"2025-09-11T17:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T00:40:10","slug":"inheriting-a-life-of-faith-and-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/inheriting-a-life-of-faith-and-courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Inheriting a Life of Faith and Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of the most meaningful lessons I\u2019ve learned about compassion and justice have come from my cousin, who is a committed atheist. Over the years, we\u2019ve had many conversations about what it means to care for others and act with kindness. In one discussion, I found myself saying, \u201cYou would make a very strong Christian.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What has struck me is this: the very instincts that draw me toward justice, compassion for the oppressed, and human dignity often surface in my atheist family member as well. Tom Holland captures this dynamic in Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind<\/em>, observing, \u201cTo live in a Western country is to live in a society still utterly saturated by Christian concepts and assumptions.\u201d[1]<\/a> He goes on, \u201cSo profound has been the impact of Christianity on the development of Western civilisation that it has come to be hidden from view. It is the incomplete revolutions which are remembered; the fate of those which triumph is to be taken for granted.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This raises an important question: could my cousin\u2019s concern for justice, compassion, and human dignity reflect not a purely human invention, but a shared Christian heritage? Holland\u2019s historical perspective suggests that it could. His insights reveal something striking: even the secular ideals of the West are deeply rooted in a Christian ethical framework. He notes the irony: \u201cAn age of enlightenment and revolution had served to establish as international law a principle that derived from the depths of the Catholic past.\u201d[3]<\/a> This helps explain why my cousin and I, though we hold different beliefs, often act from the same moral foundation. Our shared commitment to justice, compassion, and care for the vulnerable reflects a common moral inheritance\u2014one that points back to a Creator who designed humanity for goodness, even when some search for fulfillment apart from Him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading Dominion<\/em>, I am struck by how the stories of Christianity\u2019s influence reveal humanity\u2019s persistent quest for deliverance\u2014whether through kings, politicians, philosophers, revolutionaries, or the Church\u2014\u201c[aspiring] to a condition of untainted purity.\u201d[4]<\/a> Holland observes, \u201cCertainly, to dream of a world transformed by a reformation, or an enlightenment, or a revolution is nothing exclusively modern. Rather, it is to dream as medieval visionaries dreamed: to dream in the manner of a Christian.\u201d[5]<\/a> Similarly, Frank Macchia notes in The Trinity, Practically Speaking<\/em>, \u201cThe human quest for personal welfare and even immortality is as old as the human race. At least some of these efforts are necessary and noble. But what astounds me is the vigor and passion that is expended towards some form of deliverance from death, guilt, gracelessness, or meaninglessness.\u201d[6]<\/a> Yet even as Christians, we often pursue justice, compassion, and human dignity while avoiding the cost that true faith demands. We long for deliverance from pain, persecution, and even death, hoping to enjoy the benefits of righteousness without embracing its sacrifices.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout history, many followers of Jesus did not seek to escape suffering, but courageously accepted their fate at the hands of governments or so-called \u201creligious leaders.\u201d In Acts 7:59-60, we read of Stephen\u2019s martyrdom: \u201cAnd as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, \u2018Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.\u2019 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, \u2018Lord, do not hold this sin against them.\u2019 And when he had said this, he fell asleep.\u201d Holland also recounts the story of Blandina, a young slave girl in the early church, who endured torture without giving her persecutors the satisfaction of breaking her will. As Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes note in Christian Women in the Patristic World<\/em>, Blandina was \u201ca young slave girl in the early church who endured torture without giving her persecutors the satisfaction of breaking her will.\u201d[7]<\/a> They further note that she \u201cstood out among the group for her very particular posture as she hung on a stake to be picked apart by birds.\u201d[8]<\/a>These examples illustrate that true faith often demands embracing suffering rather than avoiding it\u2014a reality Christians must reckon with.<\/span><\/p>\n

Living as a Christian today often involves facing the real costs of faith. Pursuing justice, compassion, and human dignity can carry tangible risks\u2014loss of comfort, security, or even life itself. Holland reminds us that the ethical framework of Christianity has shaped even secular values in the West, influencing how we understand justice, human dignity, and responsibility. His perspective shows that the courage required of Christians is not merely personal\u2014it is part of a long continuum of faith-driven action. Choosing to act faithfully may demand sacrifice, and these acts\u2014though costly\u2014connect us to a larger story of commitment and endurance that stretches across centuries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reflecting on all of this, I am reminded of my cousin. Over the years, our conversations have taught me much about compassion, justice, and caring for others. Yet the examples of Stephen, Blandina, and countless others reveal something my cousin\u2019s life cannot: for Christians, faith shapes moral instincts, calling them to endure suffering\u2014even death\u2014for the sake of Christ. What my cousin values in principle, Christians are called to live in practice, often at great personal cost. In this way, my cousin\u2019s lessons on justice and compassion echo the moral convictions of faith, but the faithful show the weight, depth, and enduring significance that a life grounded in Christ can give to those convictions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Holland, Tom. Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind<\/em>. New York: Doubleday, 2019, Kindle Edition, 13.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, Kindle Edition, 17.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, Kindle Edition, 412.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, Kindle Edition, 136.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Holland, Dominion<\/em>, Kindle Edition, 13.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Frank Macchia, The Trinity, Practically Speaking<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 46<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Lynn H. Cohick and Amy Brown Hughes, Christian Women in the Patristic World<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), Kindle Edition, 190.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Cohick and Hughes, Christian Women in the Patristic World<\/em>, Kindle Edition, 190.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the most meaningful lessons I\u2019ve learned about compassion and justice have come from my cousin, who is a committed atheist. Over the years, we\u2019ve had many conversations about what it means to care for others and act with kindness. In one discussion, I found myself saying, \u201cYou would make a very strong Christian.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3011,2627],"class_list":["post-42040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dglp03","tag-holland","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42040"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42044,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42040\/revisions\/42044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}