#86. Christianity – Not A Religion

Say what? Christianity is not a religion! When unsure of the meaning of particular words, I go a runnin’ to my dictionary. So, recently I found myself speedily turning the pages of my Webster-book. 

Religion is defined as “the expression of man’s belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe”

Christianity is defined as “the religion taught by Jesus and his followers”

Well, I was right all along. Simply put, Christianity IS indeed a religion; in fact, it is the world’s largest religion of 2.2 billion followers. So I am perplexed by a statement made by fundamental Christians from time to time that … it is not a religion!

It goes something like this:  “Christianity is not a religion – it’s a person.”  Of course, they are implying that their religion – that is, “the expression of (their) belief in and reverence for a superhuman power” – is centered upon and directed toward their relationship with Jesus.

But, that IS … their religion. Their belief is in the deity of Jesus. Their reverence is for the divine Jesus. So I find their need to deny that their religion is a religion … rather strange. After all, Christianity is full of doctrines to learn, commandments to believe, rituals to follow, and practices to complete.

OK, granted that the church has added its own set of ‘rules’ to the religion which gives it powerful authority over its members. Rules such as don’t drink or smoke or dance; don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings; don’t not read your Bible; don’t not tithe; don’t do this; don’t not do that.

Maybe it is their understanding that religion is a set of hard-and-fast rules adherents must follow in order to obtain God’s blessing of getting into heaven when it’s all over down here. This ‘getting into heaven’ is what is meant by the Christian precept called salvation. 

Let’s look that one up under the S’s: 

Salvation is defined as “deliverance”, from the Greek word, soteria

Salvation for a Christian is getting delivered from this earth-life and arriving in heaven-ville ... on time. Under the directive of Paul, salvation in the religion of Christianity has been simplified to:  having faith in Jesus. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (REV)

Paul seems to be implying that service and good deeds are not necessary for salvation; but helping each other is what life is all about and I’ll bet it is what heaven is all about. He seems to be implying that no effort whatsoever is involved in having-faith-in-Jesus. Not so! For most of the world, having faith calls for a heck of a lot of effort! If having faith was not of our own doing, but a gift of God, everyone would be delivered no matter what! Everyone would be heaven-bound; each and every soul would leave this planet of ours riding on their chariots of fire – free as a bird – into heaven’s realm. The free gift of salvation would include every single soul. Of course, that is not one of the beliefs of the religion called Christianity.

Here’s what I want to know though. What about being delivered from the difficulties and sorrows of this earth-life … during this earth-life? Is that not the purpose of all those Christian teachings of Jesus – to save or deliver us in the here and now? Enter your closet and pray; trust God; stop judging; start forgiving; love one another; control your anger; help each another.

Let’s listen in on a conversation about salvation with a woman at the drinking well. Jesus, a Jew, made this rather blunt statement to the lady, a Samaritan: “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.” – John 4:22 (NAS)

That was then and this is now. In today’s world, salvation is from the Christians and to those of the religion of Judaism (and all other religions), Christendom authoritatively claims: “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the (Christians)”. Hmmmm.

Well, I have closed up my Webster-book for awhile. I don’t know if those pearly-gates are open for other religions or even for Christians, but my religion tells me that my Jesus  loves every one of us whether we have faith in him or not; and that he was a religious Jew who had a rich faith in God and performed some mighty good deeds here upon our Mother Earth in serving his fellow-man with love. That pretty well sums it all up for me.

Next time, I’ll look that one up under the J’s to see if my dictionary tells it like it really, really is!

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#74. Eternal Life in Heaven

In this think-piece, you shall find two contradictory answers to a most important question: What is the requirement for obtaining eternal life in heaven? The first answer is from Jesus and the second is from Paul.

Answer #1:

As he started out on a trip, a man came running up to Jesus, knelt down, and asked. "Good teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good? But as for your question, you know the commandments: 'Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely. Do not cheat. Honor your father and mother."

"Teacher," the man replied, "I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was a child."

Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. "You lack only one thing," he told him. "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions. (Mark 10:17-22)

Apparently, Jesus sensed that the man was overly attached to his material wealth. The man was not at all pleased with Jesus’ answer. Hypothetically, that is, what-if that the man later sought out Paul for a second opinion to the same question. Here is the answer Paul would have given him.

Answer #2: 

“... eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God  through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) “…we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ – and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will be saved by obeying the law.” (Galatians 2:16)

WOW! Forget about salvation by obeying the law! Paul’s answer was in direct opposition to Jesus’ answer. For Paul, salvation was about belief in Christ Jesus, but Jesus emphasized the commandments, saying absolutely nothing to the man about having faith in himself.

Now, let us consider another hypothetical -- a what-if scenario. Imagine that Jesus and Paul change places. Let’s switch both the order of the sequence of events, as well as the answers each man presents to the man. In other words, let’s suppose that the man first goes to Paul with his question. However, Paul gives the identical answer #1 which Jesus had originally provided: follow the law which Moses gave -- obey the commandments; and release your attachments to your possessions. 

Not satisfied, let's imagine that the man next goes to Jesus with the same question, but hears from the lips of the Master the answer #2 which Paul had originally given. 

Are you still with me? Let’s listen in on the conversation with Jesus. Go ahead -- put on your headphones.

"Good teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?" 

Jesus says, “... eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from God  through Jesus Christ our Lord … we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ – and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will be saved by obeying the law.”

The man is bewildered and asks for clarification, “Well, who is this Jesus Christof whom you speak?” 

Jesus points to himself and exclaims with authority, “It’s ME! It’s ME! You won’t get eternal life by following Moses and obeying his commandments! Forget Moses. Forget the law. You have to have faith in ME!”

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