Christianity Is Not A Religion

[Delta4Embassy]

Oddly enough, though I intended this to be tongue-in-cheek, I rememberd many Christians have made this assertion. And I suppose, they're right but in the wrong way.

"Christianity" is not a religion per se' so much as, like paganism, an umbrella term. Catholicism is a religion, Baptists, Lutherns, etc. are religions. But there's no "Christianity" religion. Just as Wicca and Druidism are examples of religions under the header "Paganism" but "Paganism" itself isn't a religion.

Many Christians though who've claimed they're 'Christ followers' insist Christianity isn't a religion. True, but if you use the Bible as your faith's authoratative text, and believe Jesus is God and/or the Messiah, you're something accurately described, at least generically, as "Christian."

 

[PratchettFan]

If I am going to determine if an animal I find is a mammal, there are particular attributes which must be met. Warm blooded, vertebrate, hair or fur, females nurse young and mostly give live birth. If the animal is cold blooded or lacks a spine, I know it is not a mammal.

In any discussion of what is or is not a religion, we must first begin by establishing what the attributes of a religion are. What makes any human activity a religion? You mention Catholicism is a religion.... why?

 

[NYcarbineer]

Christianity is certainly a political movement in many cases; recall the Christian Coalition, which was ( or is if it's still around) a thoroughly political organization.

 

[Blackrook]

Book: Mere Christianity
Author: C.S. Lewis
Macmillan, NY, pp. 190

Excerpt from Preface:

I hope no reader will suppose that "mere" Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions — as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else.

It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall, I have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into the room you will find that the long wait has done some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise. But you must regard it as waiting, not as camping. You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. And above all you must be asking which door is the true one; not which pleases you best by its paint and paneling.

In plain language, the question should never be: "Do I like that kind of service?" but "Are these doctrines true: Is holiness here? Does my conscience move me towards this? Is my reluctance to knock at this door due to my pride, or my mere taste, or my personal dislike of this particular door-keeper?"

When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. This is one of the rules common to the whole house.

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

 

[Blackrook]

J.R.R. Tolkien helped C.S. Lewis move from atheism to Christianity. But after his conversion, C.S. Lewis chose to be an Anglican. Tolkien was annoyed, because he wanted Lewis to go "all the way" and become a Catholic.

 

[ninja007]

J.R.R. Tolkien helped C.S. Lewis move from atheism to Christianity. But after his conversion, C.S. Lewis chose to be an Anglican. Tolkien was annoyed, because he wanted Lewis to go "all the way" and become a Catholic.

if by all the way you mean straight into the pits of hell, then yes.

 

[DGS49]

Maybe all religion is nonsense, but...

To be a Christian and not be Catholic is absurd.

Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide His Church. There is only one Christian church that can trace its roots back to Peter. There is only one Christian church that makes a conscious effort to base its beliefs in practices on both the Holy Scriptures and the traditions that originate with the Apostles and Christ Himself. The various sources of Catholic apologia are easy enough to find, and the information is readily available. It's all based on Scripture.

While it is certainly possible to find countless examples of the Church doing things that today seem un-Christian, heartless, cruel, counter-intuitive, and not in keeping with what we now believe is a correct interpretation of Scripture, one can only say that the Church is an institution run by HUMANS, who are invariably flawed and sometimes seriously so. In the context of the times when the objectionable practices and beliefs prevailed, they were "good faith" attempts to make sense of Christ's guidance and apply it to contemporary life.

EVERY Catholic belief that the Prods point to as being non-Scriptural or "un-Christian" (e.g., purgatory, the unique position and role of Mary, the forgiveness of sins, the place of Good Works in salvation) is based on both Scripture AND Christian Tradition, and the other denominations that take Christianity and Scripture seriously (Lutherna, Episcopals) have all come around to recognize that, unlike these storefront preachers who claim to be "Entirely BIBLE-BASED," the Catholic Church is truly based on the Bible, with logical and necessary extrapolations as necessary.

For example, the Bible is unambiguous in stating that a baby in the womb is a baby and nothing other than a baby - hence abortion is morally unacceptable. For Christians, this is NOT a matter of "choice" or interpretation: it is fact. The Bible prohibits abortion. Done. If you claim to believe in the truth of the Bible, there is no other conclusion that can be reached.

The very existence of Protestantism - while understandable in historical context - is a DENIAL of Christ's promise of divine guidance for the Church. For if the Holy Spirit is guiding "the Church," how can every denomination decide what it wants to believe? It doesn't compute.

Like I say, maybe it's all nonsense. Maybe the personage we refer to as "Jesus Christ" is a composite of several figures, or entirely made up, like Job. But if you claim to be a Christian and are not Catholic, your are kidding yourself.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

J.R.R. Tolkien helped C.S. Lewis move from atheism to Christianity. But after his conversion, C.S. Lewis chose to be an Anglican. Tolkien was annoyed, because he wanted Lewis to go "all the way" and become a Catholic.

Ever wonder why, if Catholics are so all about Jesus they're Catholics at all instead of Jews? If you believe the Jewish Messiah was Jesus, what good is that for you if not Jewish?

 

[ninja007]

Maybe all religion is nonsense, but...

To be a Christian and not be Catholic is absurd.

Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide His Church. There is only one Christian church that can trace its roots back to Peter. There is only one Christian church that makes a conscious effort to base its beliefs in practices on both the Holy Scriptures and the traditions that originate with the Apostles and Christ Himself. The various sources of Catholic apologia are easy enough to find, and the information is readily available. It's all based on Scripture.

While it is certainly possible to find countless examples of the Church doing things that today seem un-Christian, heartless, cruel, counter-intuitive, and not in keeping with what we now believe is a correct interpretation of Scripture, one can only say that the Church is an institution run by HUMANS, who are invariably flawed and sometimes seriously so. In the context of the times when the objectionable practices and beliefs prevailed, they were "good faith" attempts to make sense of Christ's guidance and apply it to contemporary life.

EVERY Catholic belief that the Prods point to as being non-Scriptural or "un-Christian" (e.g., purgatory, the unique position and role of Mary, the forgiveness of sins, the place of Good Works in salvation) is based on both Scripture AND Christian Tradition, and the other denominations that take Christianity and Scripture seriously (Lutherna, Episcopals) have all come around to recognize that, unlike these storefront preachers who claim to be "Entirely BIBLE-BASED," the Catholic Church is truly based on the Bible, with logical and necessary extrapolations as necessary.

For example, the Bible is unambiguous in stating that a baby in the womb is a baby and nothing other than a baby - hence abortion is morally unacceptable. For Christians, this is NOT a matter of "choice" or interpretation: it is fact. The Bible prohibits abortion. Done. If you claim to believe in the truth of the Bible, there is no other conclusion that can be reached.

The very existence of Protestantism - while understandable in historical context - is a DENIAL of Christ's promise of divine guidance for the Church. For if the Holy Spirit is guiding "the Church," how can every denomination decide what it wants to believe? It doesn't compute.

Like I say, maybe it's all nonsense. Maybe the personage we refer to as "Jesus Christ" is a composite of several figures, or entirely made up, like Job. But if you claim to be a Christian and are not Catholic, your are kidding yourself.

no.