The Christian Faith

We're gonna skip the normal "sorry it's been so long since I've blogged..." thing, and get right to it.

I know that many Christians in my circle make a big deal about the term "religion." The quote goes like this: "Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship." And when someone calls what we have a religion, we often jump and say that it's not a religion.

(Now, I understand the point. Any religious system, with its outward acts of worship, its creeds and doctrines, its rituals and traditions, is not what we are talking about. True Christianity is about reestablishing a good relationship with God the Father, and that is only made possible through God the Son. So, I get the point.)

I've always shied away from making the statement though, that Christianity is not a religion. A religion is defined in a variety of ways, but they generally have in common that a religion is a "set of beliefs." Belief is another word for Faith. So, a religion is a faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God. By grace are we saved through faith. God gave His only begotten Son, so whosoever believeth in Him should not perish." Christianity certainly is about faith. So, is it wrong to call it a religion? Certainly not. Is it more than a religious system? Certainly it is!

So, (developing a much longer thought, and a different direction that you're probably thinking I'm going!) maybe it would be better to call it the "Christian Faith" than to call it the "Religion of Christianity" or something like that. Yeah, I like that better, the Christian Faith.

Now, here's the problem that I have. Much of the philosophies in the world today separate faith from experience/reason. They put the natural world on one level, and the super-natural world on another level. (Francis Schaeffer writes about this in his book, "Escape from Reason.") So, we call it the Christian Faith, and all of a sudden, in the mind of many, many of the hearers today, they've already put the topic of the conversation on this "other" level. To them, we're not talking about something in the real world, but something else out there. Something, that to them, is unknowable and completely relative.

So, maybe I don't like using the phrase, "The Christian Faith" so much anymore. Maybe it would be better to call it "The Christian Truths," or maybe "The Truths of Christianity." Yeah, I like that a lot better. But, you'll notice that this post isn't finished yet, so I've probably got more... yeah, I do.

The problem with using the term, "The Truths of Christianity," is that there are quite a few differing "truths" held by those that claim the association with Christianity, each of them claiming some other Authority for these truths. Some would claim Tradition as an authority, others may claim their own experiences as the authority. But the only trustworthy, stable, and perfect authority lies in the written word of God, the Bible.

So, I think the best way to speak of the doctrines of Jesus Christ, ought to be with the phrase, "The Truths of the Bible." That way, we are making the claim that these are truths that affect the natural world and the supernatural. They interact with faith and also with reason. They are universal and absolute. And the source of these truths is, plain and simple, the Bible.

So, now, what are you going to be doing with the "Truths of the Bible"?

Just a New Year's thought...