Bit of a tease, this one…
Christianity and Religion
Christianity is a faith. Religion is what one does about one’s faith. It used to be said that the greatest enemy of Christianity was religion. That may seem ridiculous but when you consider the vast number of bad things done in the name of the Christian religion (and of virtually all other religions too) the old saying does begin to make some kind of sense. In all the great world faiths in spite of their differences with each other, love is the supreme value enjoined upon all adherents. Love is the great commandment. “Love is the fulfilling of the law. Those who live in love live in God and God lives in them”. That’s how our Bible puts it..
It’s probably possible to find words in the holy books of most faiths which can be and have been interpreted as justification for deeds of hatred and violence. Certainly there are war-like traditions within both Christianity and Islam. How then can we be sure that our religion is is of the healthy, loving kind which was envisaged by its first adherents? As Christians how can we be sure that our religion is what Jesus wants of us? What in fact do we have to do to be truly Christian?
There are plenty of possible answers such as: “Go regularly to a place of worship and join in the services provided;” or: “Keep the Ten Commandments”; or: “Never do any harm to anyone”; or: “Try to follow the example of Jesus Christ”; or: “Read the Bible regularly”. The list could go on almost for ever since there are so many different opinions on this big question. If you think of yourself as a Christian it would be worth thinking what your own answer would be. I hope to give mine next month.
–Peter Graham
I look at what any particular religion has done – recently or in its history – on that count Quakers beat every mainstream Christian denomination hands down – there never was a Quaker Inquisition, and Quakers allow everyone to be priests, the entire congregation in fact. (Gays and women still cause problems for the big two, as for Islam… please)
its no contest really…
Christianity is still the faith, though.
You can probably find other sub-denominations in other faiths similarly peaceful — Sufis maybe?
Buddhists are usually pretty un-fundamentalist, except for the weird kind practiced by the Japanese in WWII with the emperor as God.
What I like about Quakers is how they have changed since their founding days (puritan, rigid, but devoutly Christian) to pluralist, liberal – and inclusive even of many who specifically do not believe in Christ as portrayed in the Bible – I know some who describe themselves as Atheist Quakers.
Sufis and some branches of Hinduism are, I agree, as peaceful – just not as relevant to Western Europe today in terms of actions taken and practice to suit our communal life…Quakers are highly active in politics, behind the scenes mainly. – Its the whole picture that suits me – How Christian church spokespersons that dominate the Western world match up to that is my issue – most that are involved in politics are partisan and often overtly anti true Christian values…
Oh and Buddhists usually deny that their beliefs constitute a religion at all.
My Dad’s question was clearly aimed at Christians and I agree with the main point – religion is generally the enemy of behaving like a true follower of Christ, who revealed his mystical side when stating (John 8:58) “before Abraham was, I am” – a statement that confounds ego-ridden types of all eras, yet one that Buddhists, Sufis and many other mystics would read as identifying us all as bodily aspects of a universal oneness.
“before Abraham was, I am” – a statement that confounds ego-ridden types of all eras
Seems like an ego-driven statement itself…under a mystical worldview, why would Abraham not also have been eternal in some way? Why would Jesus be part of the eternal oneness and not Abraham?
Traditional Christians would say “because Jesus is God, and Abraham is not” — but I’m not sure you’d say that,
no – its not ego when the “I” referred to is the universal oneness ( and Christ being aware of this, then being asked “Who are you?” is trying to get away from the idea that he is some easily identifiable individual, but instead a manifestation of the timeless whole – i.e. we are all just a part of God -
that includes the spirit of Abraham, (it was only his body that “was”) and you and me…
Hi there, bit of God…
“Seems like an ego-driven statement itself…under a mystical worldview, why would Abraham not also have been eternal in some way?
Given what happens before and afterwards, I always read that as a fairly straightforward invocation of the burning bush statement, personally.
Jesus actually does argue for Abraham being eternal at some point… after saying God is the God of Abraham and Issac, Hesus says God is the God of the living and not the dead. But he still pre-existed Abraham, anyway.
…and there have been plenty of militant buddhists. Read up some on Japanese history and you’ll find some interesting things…