{"id":57460,"date":"2022-01-11T08:43:38","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T12:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=57460"},"modified":"2022-01-17T09:03:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T13:03:40","slug":"personal-relationship-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/","title":{"rendered":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? What is the role of obedience in this relationship?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains that a personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and that obedience is at the center. A true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about obedience within a personal relationship with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-obedience-is-the-essence-of-discipleship\">Obedience Is the Essence of Discipleship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, the term \u2018disciple\u2019 means a student, follower, or apprentice. To Bonhoeffer, the key distinguishing quality of a disciple is obedience\u2014personal, unconditional obedience to Christ that takes precedence over all other obligations, such as family, country, and career.&nbsp;This obedience is within the context of a personal relationship with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-personal-relationship-with-god\">A Personal Relationship With God<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Bonhoeffer insists that Jesus Christ is a living person, and obedience to a living person is different from obedience to an abstract doctrine or ritual.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adherence to a doctrine or ritual is uniform for everyone, but personal obedience to Jesus Christ is dynamic, because Jesus tells different people to do different things at different times. For example, in Luke\u2019s gospel, Christ sent Peter and John to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+22%3A8-13&amp;version=KJV\">prepare the passover<\/a> meal for the last supper. Similarly, he sent only two disciples to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+19%3A29-35&amp;version=KJV\">find a donkey<\/a> for his entry into Jerusalem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bonhoeffer asserts that Christ still gives personal instructions to his disciples today. He claims that as you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit gives you insight into how it applies to you today, not only in a general sense, but at a personal level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Bonhoeffer doesn\u2019t provide any illustrative examples, but in <a href=\"http:\/\/bakerpublishinggroup.com\/books\/god-s-smuggler-expanded-edition\/199016\"><em>God\u2019s Smuggler<\/em><\/a>, Andrew van der Bijl recounts several instances of personal direction through the Bible. On one occasion, when Andrew read, \u201cStrengthen what remains\u2026\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Revelation+3%3A2&amp;version=KJV\">Revelation 3:2,<\/a> he understood it as a personal command to visit and encourage churches throughout the Soviet Union that felt oppressed under Soviet rule.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By emphasizing that each disciple is individually accountable to Christ, Bonhoeffer also highlights how each disciple has individual access to Christ. You don\u2019t need a priest or other mediator to speak to God on your behalf. (Shortform note: This doctrine of individual access has been attributed to Luther, and was already widely accepted by protestant churches in Bonhoeffer\u2019s day. However, Bonhoeffer took it a step further. He argued that after you become a disciple, instead of needing a priest to act as a mediator between you and Christ, Christ becomes a mediator between you and everyone else, including the clergy, other fellow believers, unbelievers, the government, and so forth. Christ mediates your other relationships because, as a disciple, you can relate to others only in the ways that Christ tells you to.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Evolution of the Personal Relationship Doctrine<\/strong><br><br>The idea that you need a personal relationship with God to receive salvation has become a core teaching of most evangelical churches. Bonhoeffer\u2019s writings may have contributed to the rise of this doctrine, as <em>The Cost of Discipleship <\/em>was published about 10 years before the Rev. <a href=\"https:\/\/billygraham.org\/about\/biographies\/billy-graham\/\">Billy Graham<\/a> and his contemporaries began popularizing it.<br><br>However, there are subtle differences between Bonhoeffer\u2019s idea of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and what has become the mainstream view. The biggest difference is Bonhoeffer\u2019s emphasis on relating to Christ through suffering, which is largely absent from the mainstream view, and which we discuss more in this book guide.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-become-a-disciple\">How to Become a Disciple<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Up to this point, we\u2019ve been discussing what it means to <em>be<\/em> a disciple, but how do you <em>become<\/em> a disciple in the first place? Bonhoeffer argues that you become a disciple through baptism. He recounts how Christ called his first disciples: They became his disciples when they obeyed his call. He then asserts that the epistles of St. Paul speak of baptism in much the same way that the synoptic gospels speak of Christ\u2019s call to follow Him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Not all Christian churches agree with Bonhoeffer on this, and even those that do recognize certain exceptions. For example, the Catholic church teaches that baptism is generally essential for salvation, but grants <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholiceducation.org\/en\/culture\/catholic-contributions\/is-baptism-necessary-for-salvation.html\">certain exceptions<\/a>, such as when people were killed while preparing to be baptized. Many Protestant churches teach that you can become a disciple of Christ by faith, without the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.equip.org\/article\/can-i-be-saved-without-getting-baptized\/\">need for baptism <\/a>or any other ritual, and that obeying the command to be baptized comes later. Some churches, such as the Quakers, don\u2019t practice baptism at all.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? What is the role of obedience in this relationship? Dietrich Bonhoeffer explains that a personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and that obedience is at the center. A true disciple seeks to obey Jesus. Keep reading to learn about obedience within a personal relationship with God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":57467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[559],"class_list":["post-57460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spiritual","tag-the-cost-of-discipleship","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here&#039;s why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here&#039;s why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"367\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\"},\"wordCount\":755,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Cost of Discipleship\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\",\"name\":\"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here's why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":367},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central - Shortform Books","description":"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here's why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central","og_description":"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here's why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":367,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central","datePublished":"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/"},"wordCount":755,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","keywords":["The Cost of Discipleship"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Spiritual"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/","name":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","datePublished":"2022-01-11T12:43:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-17T13:03:40+00:00","description":"A personal relationship with God is how discipleship works\u2014and obedience is at the center. Here's why a true disciple seeks to obey Jesus.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","width":750,"height":367},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/personal-relationship-with-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Personal Relationship With God: Obedience Is Central"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/personal-relationship-with-god.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57460"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57468,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57460\/revisions\/57468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}