27-Mar-2012, 4:19 PM
(This post was last modified: 27-Mar-2012, 4:20 PM by ManipulatorGeneral.)
Honestly, it depends on what somebody means by "religion" that could influence my answer. Christianity is not defined as a religion at all by numbers of its most passionate adherents, as it does not require any man-made constructs to practice; salvation in Christianity is not meritable by any good deeds, but is a gift entirely provided by God through the atoning sacrifice for sin offered by Christ, and this exclusive focus on God's effort to reach man, rather than the opposite, is the main difference between my faith and all others. Many historical critics and theologians argue that Christ came to make religion unnecessary (it certainly wouldn't be necessary in the Christian heaven), and that is why the excessively pious, upright Jews of the time hated Him so much and ultimately sought to kill Him, because they paranoidly persuaded themselves that Christ was challenging their authority and power. I believe modern Christianity is a religion to a degree, because it does follow particular manners of organization and other man-made guidelines, and it always will be as long as we live on this imperfect Earth, but the pure form in which God intended it to be, direct fellowship with Him without any barriers as shown in the Garden of Eden story, is not. (This is certainly a possible point of contention.) I couldn't say I'm capable of explaining this concept perfectly or in complete detail, so I would recommend further research, especially for the non-religious here.
Though my personal relationship with God the Creator is the number one priority, I still consider myself religious to a degree, as I attend church every Sunday and practice customs of the church. Although religiosity can certainly be of assistance to many adherents of any faith, a wholehearted belief that Jesus' death paid for your sins to enable you to inherit eternal life (John 3:16, basically) equals Christianity, regardless of degree of religiosity. That thought actually formed a new perspective in my head recently (so many profound thoughts have started appearing ex nihilo recently...it's odd, and it certainly makes me think I'm not inventing them), and it might clear up BitBuster's confusion: "You don’t have to be Christian to be religious, but neither do you have to be religious to be Christian." I hope this small piece is at least somewhat informative and/or provocative of further thought.
Though my personal relationship with God the Creator is the number one priority, I still consider myself religious to a degree, as I attend church every Sunday and practice customs of the church. Although religiosity can certainly be of assistance to many adherents of any faith, a wholehearted belief that Jesus' death paid for your sins to enable you to inherit eternal life (John 3:16, basically) equals Christianity, regardless of degree of religiosity. That thought actually formed a new perspective in my head recently (so many profound thoughts have started appearing ex nihilo recently...it's odd, and it certainly makes me think I'm not inventing them), and it might clear up BitBuster's confusion: "You don’t have to be Christian to be religious, but neither do you have to be religious to be Christian." I hope this small piece is at least somewhat informative and/or provocative of further thought.