DEFINITION OF CHRISTIANITY
Christianity: A middle-eastern religion that has its roots deeply entrenched in the doctrines of the Judaism. In the modern context, Christianity, and the role of a Christian, has taken some unconventional definitions.
In his lecture that was presented was delivered at the Battersea Town Hall under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society, England, Bertrand Russell (Nobel Prize winner, Mathematician and philosopher) sought to define the boundaries of Christianity and the average Christian.
A Christian, in Russell’s terms, must fulfill a few basic criteria:
1. A Christian believes in God (in a monotheistic sense) and the immortality of the human soul.
2. The belief in Jesus Christ’s divinity, or at the very least, the belief that Jesus is in league with the wisest of men.
3. One is a Christian, in the sense of his/her nationality. E.g: One who lives in a Christian country, e.g a British citizen, is a Christian by virtue of his British citizenship. He continues to add that religion in a geographical sense is impractical, since one can live in a Christian country and not believe in a Christian creed.
Russell also noted that a Christian need not necessarily believe in a hell.
While Russell’s definition of Christianity is strictly technical, it does provide certain implications that Christianity, as a body of doctrine, is a religion.
According to the Oxford’s dictionary:
Religion • noun 1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. 2 a particular system of faith and worship. 3 a pursuit or interest followed with devotion.
Christianity fulfills all three aspects of “religion”. Now if you would think the Christians themselves would take that literally, you are in for a big surprise.
CHRISTIAN’S ARGUMENT: CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION; RATHER IT IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND (CHRISTIAN) GOD
As absurd as this claim may be, I have, on many occasions, been stumped with such a claim.
Being brought up in a baptist fundamentalist background, I have come across this “Christianity is a relationship with God” claim. As bogus as this sounds, it is still a acceptable argument in a religious context, in the context of faith and doctrines. But to claim that Christianity is not a religion is quite unacceptable in practical terms. How they have managed to drum up such a statement, or somewhat similar statements, is beyond my comprehension, considering that:
1. Christian Churches everywhere, including Singapore, apply their religious status through government channels, so as to maintain their “tax-free” status. If Christians are so adamant about their “non-religious” status, why bother to apply for tax exemptions?
2. During official government censuses, Christians write “Christianity” on the census forms, on the blank section regarding religion.
Finally, if Christianity is a “relationship with God”, what kind of relationship is this? How does one engage in a conversation with “God”, other than prayers?
The definition of “relationship”, according to the Oxford’s Dictionary:
relationship • noun 1 the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected. 2 the way in which two or more people or groups regard and behave towards each other. 3 an emotional and sexual association between two people. A connection between two or more people, or things.
Hmm…..Since God is not exactly a person in the strictest sense, how does one define God in the relationship? A thing? God is not so much a contactable being: rather, it is a product of one’s imagination, and imaginations cannot be classified as a physical manifestation of “thing”. The second explanation, between people, or groups, now that sounds plausible, if we consider the Trinity as a group in the loose sense. The third one is definitely out of question, unless you consider the virgin impregnation of Mary a “sexual association” between God and Man.
In short, the question of how a Christian manages to have a “relationship” with a deity becomes a rather knotty issue, since God, in the strictest sense, does not have any bearing with the human notion of a relationship.
The question that comes to mind at this point is, if Christianity is indeed a religion, why then, do they claim otherwise? While such claims are most likely to have been circulated amongst the flock, it is highly likely the higher echelons of the Christian community will have a hand in such religious propaganda.
The reasons include:
1. Marketability: Marketing Christianity and the Christian God as a endearing, personal being. That way, Christianity becomes a class above the major religions, thereby making Christianity more palatable and marketable to the masses.
2. Emphasizing the “I am right, and you are wrong” mentality of the world’s monotheistic religions. That way, Christianity can exert the additional “moral” right to wrestle the authenticity of their religion from other religions.
3. To increase their membership through the above-mentioned points, so as to increase their tithes/incomes of the respective churches/Christian institutions.
CONCLUSION
As insignificant as this issue may seem to be, I feel that Christians often dodge the issue when I bring it up with them. Such incorrect statements are an affront to the masses who visit the Churches every other week.
To quote Ephesians 5:23 “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the SAVIOR OF THE BODY. ” And Col1:18 “And he is the head of the BODY, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence”.
Professing xtians who go on a ‘personal level’ with the christ and their salvation seem to be ignoring this passage. It’s an ‘en masse’ situation. But of course all money-making institutions have to reinvent their ploys to fit the demands of the modern masses. Just think Madonna.