Herman Cain’s church

Since I last mentioned Herman Cain on this blog, the Republican presidential candidate has gone from complete unknown to surprising frontrunner with some voters. I find his ads bizarre and his rhetoric unconvincing, and the whole sexual harassment settlement certainly hasn’t been playing well. But, at this point, Cain certainly needs to be taken seriously.

So who is Herman Cain? Or, more to the heart to the heart of this blog, what does Herman Cain believe about God?

It turns out that Cain is an ordained minister of the National Baptist Convention. And he’s been open about God’s role in his battle against cancer. Now the Wall Street Journal has shed some light on Cain’s church, where he is an assistant pastor:

Mr. Cain’s church, Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, Ga., is theologically conservative, affirming the inerrancy of scripture and historic Christian creeds as literally true. It was founded in 1877 as eight freed slaves banded together in prayer. During its 134 years, it has hosted many civil-rights activists, and today it has 14,000 members.

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While Mr. Cain’s economic views are likely more conservative than those of many of his fellow congregants, his views on social issues are consistent with his denomination—the National Baptist Convention—and with the majority of black Americans. Mr. Cain, like most black Americans, believes life begins at conception and that marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman.

Read the rest here, where op-ed writer Harry Jackson compares Cain’s church’s views to those of Obama’s former church and his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.