This question has divided Christians for centuries. Some have placed more importance on saving one’s soul over doing good works. But being saved and following the example of Jesus are two sides of the same coin. You cannot separate one from the other.

Martin Luther didn’t want the Letter of James in his New Testament because there is a great emphasis on works. Luther believed strongly that salvation was achieved only by faith alone. He found that in Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

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Questioning is the lifeblood of faith. It’s like feeding oxygen to the brain. Without questioning, faith is untilled soil.

There are countless stories of some very serious questioning in the life of faith of many of the saints who have gone before us. St. John of the Cross called his time of deepest questioning, “the dark night of the soul.” And even Jesus experienced what is called “the agony in the garden,” where “he threw himself on the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39)

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When I was a teenager and attending church camp, a creative Methodist minister preached on this very question. He said to picture a lovely garden where everything is perfect. The flowers are all beautiful, the deer are running through the woods, people are spread out on the lawn have a really fun picnic. The children are all playing on the swings and laughing. The birds are singing. Everything is in just right. For that minister, that was “heaven.”

Then he said, picture that entire beautiful pastoral environment enclosed in a giant glass bubble. Now, picture people outside the giant glass bubble lying on top and looking in. That’s hell. That image has always stuck with me.

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I laughed out loud when I read this week’s question. Since I’ve preached and written about “Blessed are those who read the whole Bible,” it seemed something of a quandary to identify one passage or verse. I can’t.

The reality is there are many. The thousands of Bible passages about peace and poverty have shaped me in my work to stop war before it begins or seek a living wage for Americans.

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Given the current virus sweeping our nation elevating GREED as a central tenet of capitalism, I think GREED and its brothers and sisters ARROGANCE AND SELFISHNESS lead the pack. While the Seven Deadly Sins in Christian theology are important, I think Mahatma Gandhi may have said it just as well for our current cultural experience. Gandhi listed the Seven Deadly SOCIAL Sins as Politics without Principle, Wealth without Work, Commerce without Morality, Pleasure without Conscience, Education without Character, Science without Humanity and Worship without Sacrifice.

I think even Jesus would have agreed with Gandhi.