I do not have a religion, because none suits me.
I have just read this sentence on one of the usenet groups, and it woke some interesting thoughts afterwards. As a new-born Christian I may only feel sorry for this kind of human philosophy, but at the same time I am perfectly aware that this is the way most people view religion - as to what degree it suits them. In other words - to what degree the god of a given religion fits their needs and feelings. This is plainly a man-made caricature of real God.
Now, everything a Christian says in response to this will be treated as boasting and pride, as well as limited and simplistic.
Do we have a religion? What is religion?
According to Wikipedia,
Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that (generally) involve a faith in a spiritual nature and a study of inherited ancestral traditions, knowledge and wisdom related to understanding human life. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to faith as well as to the larger shared systems of belief.
In the larger sense, religion is a communal system for the coherence of belief —typically focused on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, traditions, and rituals are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion can also be described as a way of life.
But this is not what Biblical Christianity is all about. And this is precisely why people have such a hard time to understand Christianity... They have built their idea of God according to religion. Any religion.
Now then, when we say that we have a personal relationship with God, the average listener looks at us with disbelief and considers us crazy. Why? Because this does not fit his preconceived notion of religion according to the above definition.
Since the above depicts a man-made religion of works, the definition has no relevance to Biblical Christianity as we know it. Unfortunately, the very name, Christianity, has been embraced by so many false teachers and cults, that it is no longer possible to explain the specifics of the true Christianity to an unbeliever.
False teachings of various sorts, not the least of the so called Christians of Rome, have introduced the treacherous notion of any religion being right. You are safe as long as you believe... in something. This is not what Bible teaches! But who would care for the teachings of an old book, half of which was written by Jews and for Jews, and the other half compiled after the 'supposed' death of a 'supposed' Jesus...
This is a nice story, they say, but how much of it can we really believe? There are no proofs... There are no trustworthy witnesses... You Christians want us enslaved to your preposterous doctrine, and we are too humanistic for that!
God gives His Grace and faith in Him to those He pleases to give it to. There simply is no other logic, no other Gospel, no other God, no other Jesus.
let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
(Act 4:10-12)
8 comments:
I LOVE that piece of scripture! (Acts 4:10-12)
:D
Good post. Very true too. People reject our faith as mere "religion," but they often reject it because they hold to a god of their own creation. God does not allow me to define Him, He keeps making me stretch to learn more about Him- if I were to create Him to my liking He would be much inferior- I cannot even comprehend the vastness of God let alone the substance thereof.
Hi Ania!
I'm not sure if you remember me or if you want to remember me, but we used to "argue" a lot on psd a long time ago. I have a lot of admiration for your new found faith. I hope to be visiting a lot if you don't mind.
Angelika
Just in case you'd like to read :)
Wow!
Angelika, it took me some time to sort it out and find you in my memory. We were not friends exactly, but I am impressed :)
How did you find me here?
Thank you for kind words.
God Bless
Awwww! That hurt, but it is well deserved, I know. I was searching through old newsgroups that I know of since I have all tthis holiday time on my hands and soon enough I stumbled upon your name, put it in the google engine and voilà! I was just curious if you are active on the web and it turns out that you are :) This topic of religion is actually dear to my heart, because my partner is doing PhD in Theology, so I will be reading you a lot :)
Talk soon,
Angelika
The fact that APART from the SPIRIT OF GOD nobody was, is or will be able to differentiate between religion and faith is rather understandable especially for those who have been regenerated in and by the LORD.
What is hard to believe is rather complete and massive lack of intellectual vigor and honesty for vast part of the population of this planet. Most people will not pursue facts in objective mode to find a valid answer on their own.
Instead, they will happily delegate this responsibility and a privilege to somebody else and put their opinion in place of God’s revelation for human kind.
This kind of laziness is the ultimate and it leads to the ultimate consequence – eternal death.
Mil, you write:
"Instead, they will happily delegate this responsibility and a privilege to somebody else and put their opinion in place of God’s revelation for human kind.
This kind of laziness is the ultimate and it leads to the ultimate consequence – eternal death."
This is so true and so scary. I was, in fact, going to write a post about it. People take care of their health, their economy, they would in no way let somebody else choose their partner, yet when it comes to eternity and life - a sinful priest is ok. Scary...
Ken, thank You for stopping by, I really appreciate it. I have also learned to tell people that I am not religious. Boy, that makes them really confused :)
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