October 26, 2015
Inside Ben Carson's religious faith
By Nia-Malika Henderson , Senior Political Reporter
Updated 9:26 AM ET, Fri September 25, 2015
| COMMENT: Now we’re told Mr. Carson described himself as "not a real religious person." This is rather difficult for me to understand especially since he follows it up with "I'm a person who has a deep and abiding faith and relationship with God," |
Washington (CNN) Ben Carson is surging to the top tier of the Republican presidential field with poignant observations on his own faith -- and controversial attacks on another.
Carson's comments on Islam -- he said last weekend that a Muslim shouldn't be President -- have sparked a heated debate about the role of personal faith in public service. But the remark, which he's tried to walk back this week, also highlights Carson's own religious background as a Seventh-day Adventist, a denomination that is sometimes at odds with mainline Christianity.
The controversy reflects the great paradox of Carson, the renowned pediatric neurosurgeon who is in second place in a Quinnipiac University poll of Republican voters released Thursday. Carson, who will address the Values Voter summit Friday, speaks powerfully of the benefits of faith and how religion can bring together communities that would otherwise be divided. But he also has a history of offending people who don't share his religious values.
In an interview with CNN, Carson spoke about the complexities of his faith and said there are misconceptions about the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
"People tend to ascribe to Adventism any weird thing they have heard about religion because they don't really know," Carson said. "Adventism believes the entirety of the Bible."
He described himself as "not a real religious person."
"I'm a person who has a deep and abiding faith and relationship with God," he said. "But I'm not really into a lot of religious dogma and rituals -- 'you can't do that, and you can't do this.' I don't believe in that. I believe you have to have a deep and abiding faith in God."
Click on Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/politics/ben-carson-2016-religion/
