26 Christianity

Clement S. Lourdes

Introduction

Christianity is the world’s largest religion with 2.4 billion believers known as Christians. Francis Schaeffer has rightly pointed out that, “Christianity is the greatest intellectual system the mind of man has ever touched”. The essence of Christianity is underlined in St Paul’s letter to Corinthians 15:   1-4. Ruthlessly summarized, it states that Jesus died for our sins, buried, and resurrected again to offer salvation for all those who followed him.

Nehru, in his Autobiography, said, “Religion consists of the inner development of the individual, the evolution of his consciousness in a certain direction which is considered good. What the direction is will be again a matter of debate”. True to his saying Christianity points out the right direction to its followers rather than prescribing certain do’s and don’ts. The aim of any Christian would be a closer walk with god. This would be made possible for him only with the help of Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Christianity stems from Judaism which had established nearly 2000 years ago. But in the course of time much rubbish clouded its vision and Jesus tried to get rid of these through his reformatory measures. But still the two great commandments of Christ, namely, i. Thou shall love the God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and ii. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself are nothing but the vibrant echoes of the Jewish Toarh .

Ever since the creation of mankind, people chose to disobey the command of god. As the result of this they have been suffering from the broken relationship with god enduring death and disease. In order to restore the relationship, God foretold through his prophets that he would send his messiah who would take up the human form and undergo all the suffering for the redemption of mankind.

2. The Promised One

Jesus is the son of god and the Christians believe that he is fully man as much as he is fully divine. Jesus means ‘Savior’. The word ‘Christ’ is the Greek word for Messiah, the promised deliverer. As the saying goes that “the child is the father of man”, Jesus started performing miracles at an early age. He began to preach, teach and remained as a crowd-puller by his tremendous wisdom and maturity. His famous sermon on the mount ranks the best among his oratory skills to educate even an illiterate. The numerous parables spelled out from his sermons are moralistic capsules for a sinful nation.

Fearing the popularity of Christ the religious authorities and leaders turned against him. He was put under trail, crucified and died. But he rose from the dead. He conquered death and every true Christian can attain true relationship with god if he follows Christ who is, “the way and the truth and the life”.

3. The Holy Trinity

When St Augustine was asked to define Holy Trinity, he simply said, “If you don’t ask me I know, If you ask me, I know not”. The idea of Holy Trinity is indeed a baffling question. Though Christianity is monotheistic, it also asserts the fact that god is painted as three persons in one— God, the father; God, the son; and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are like the three lines that make a triangle if they are joined together. Or else they would simply remain as three separate lines. They are co-eternal together and co-equal.

The Holy Spirit is active ever since the world was created. It gives the power the people need during the time of crisis. We see the Holy Spirit operating in Jesus throughout his life guiding him and consoling him during the hours of torture. It descended on him at the time of his baptism. John the Baptist declared that Jesus would baptize people with Holy Spirit. Jesus himself assures the apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever.

When someone becomes a Christian he /she receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit works with Christians to reproduce the character of Jesus in every Christian.

The qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control are its gift.

4. Salvation

According to Christianity salvation is freedom from the old sins in order to have closer relationship with god. As Browning said, “On earth we are broken arcs and in heaven a perfect round”, we struggle to free ourselves from sin. This would be possible only if we follow the words of Christ and be constantly guided by the Holy Spirit. While many religious systems require a lot from the devotees for salvation, Christianity teaches that salvation is much easier since the debt of the sin has been already paid by Jesus who died for our sins.

5. The Presence of Evil

Christianity does not deny the presence of evil and the endless battle between the good and the evil. The first question a non-believer would like to ask a Christian is that if God is so powerful and all-knowing, why does he allow the evil and the sin to operate in the world? The answer lies in The Book of Job. The purpose underlying The Book of Job appears to be two-fold—one directed heavenward, the other earthward. As readers we only know why Job is being tortured but Job does not know it. He undergoes all his suffering and surrenders himself to God: “God has given me everything and he has taken away. Blessed be his name”. Martin Luther King says that man is responsible for much of the evils in the world. And there is always a mystery that surrounds god. What looks like evil in our eyes may not be the same with Him. Though God permits evil He does not create evil. Although Satan’s devilish nature is at the root of the man’s suffering, it is not beyond god’s control. In fact evil is a boon in disguise. It is because of human beings who have to suffer for the sins of the first-parents, God has sent his own son to achieve redemption.

Similarly the idea of Hell is also misunderstood. It is not a place where there is fire and fury to consume the bodies of the sinners. The heated furnace, darkness and the manifold instruments of torture should not be taken literally. It is not the place of eternal punishment but it is a place of the dead. When Jesus warns people about the eternal fire he means the absence of god. Any place devoid of God is hell.

6. The Eternal Life

It is for the life eternal that everyone craves for. Jesus strived hard to bring the kingdom of God closer to his men. The Sermon on the Mount starts with a striking sentence, “Blessed are those who know they are spiritually poor the kingdom of heaven belongs to them” (Mathew 4, 5) He taught his disciples to pray, “Our father, in heaven”. The Christians are promised a place in Heaven which he is going to prepare as soon he departs from the world. Even on the day of his crucifixion, when he was about to give up his ghost, the culprit by his side who undergoes a similar fate, asks Jesus to take him to the kingdom of God as promised by him. To which Jesus reply: ” I tell to you today you will be in paradise with me” But where is this kingdom? Is it in this world and in another realm beyond it? Who can be members of this kingdom? Christianity believes in the existence of Heaven and hell and this leads to seek the kingdom of God. “God is the King is one of constant themes of the Old Testament. It is not the palace where the king rules but it is a place where God rules. When Jesus started his speech he asserts,” The kingdom of God is near”. When Pontius Pilate asks him, “Are you the King of Jews?, he says “You say it”, and clearly explains that his kingdom does not exist in this world. As a king he destroys only the evils by eradicating demons and evil spirits.

Jesus asserts that the growth of this kingdom is a slow process. It is just like a mustard seed sporting from the earth which eventually becomes a huge tree. The kingdom of God is not for the proud; it is designed for the meek and humble.

7. The Holy Scripture

The primary sacred text of the Christians is The Bible. It derives from the Latin word which means ‘books’. The Bible is made of two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is almost similar to that of the Jewish Bible. The New Testament is a collection of Christian writings which include the four gospels of the apostles—St Luke, St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John, the heart-warming epistles of St. Paul and an apocalyptic work.

For almost 2000years the Bible has guided, inspired, helped and comforted countless people the world over. Its attraction is as great today as ever and with the help of modern translations many are reading it for the first time. The word gospel means ‘good news’. The facts of the gospel are simple. Jesus came into the world to save the sinners. He was killed but resurrected after three days. Since our sins are forgiven because of him, we can have an everlasting life. The good news the gospel preaches is not a system of philosophy that cannot be understood by all. But it is a topography god has designed to show the way of the kingdom of god to his chosen men.

8. Prayer and Ethics

Jesus taught Christians how to pray. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector shows that one should be humble enough to confess his guilt to god. Prayer unites us with God. Jesus said, “Ask, seek and Knock ” We pour out our hearts before him. Jesus himself prayed to god even on the cross. When he asked his disciples to pray for him a day earlier to his arrest and trail, they could not do it. They slept off though they were told twice to remain wakeful. The third time when he saw them sleeping, he said, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”

The faithful Israelite prayed three times a day. Prayer is a Christian family activity. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help the Christians to pray. The Christians ask for their needs and they are confident that their prayers will be answered. Prayers always include thanksgiving to God.

Christianity teaches love and humility. This is the core of its ethical teaching: “Love thy neighbor as thyself and Turn to him the right cheek who slaps on your left one”.

As these commands appear a little bit hard to follow, some people may brand Jesus as “an impractical idealist”. But Martin Luther King calls him as “a practical realist”.

9. Christian Practices

There are many Practices in Christianity but the most common elements include Sunday Mass, private and corporate prayer, study of the scriptures and participation in sacraments. Christian worship services consist of singing, prayer and sermons. The big churches have special ritual for ordination, or the making of a priest. In most Christian families the members assemble for evening prayer and many read the bible. Every Christian child will be baptized and participate in communion. Though Baptism and communion are the major sacraments, there are a few more practices known as sacramental or devotional. Rosary praying and pilgrimage to holy places are also considered as significant practices in families and churches. The other distinctive practices include recognition of seven total sacraments, Sunday mass, devotion to Virgin Mary and the saints and veneration of relics and places associated with holy figures.

10. Blood and Body

The New Testament uses blood to denote the death of Christ. In the Old Testament the word ‘Blood’ is used in so many different ways. When blood is shed, a man dies. Therefore the Old Testament warns that “Life is the gift of God, so no more must shed another’s blood”.

The blood of animals was used as sacrifice in the ancient world of Christians. But in the New Testament, the phrase “the blood of Jesus” is used to refer to the violent death of Christ on the Cross. Some modern translations uses the phrase simply to denote the death of Christ.

The New Testament speaks of the “resurrected body”, the new body we will have when we are raised from the dead.

11. Church

For Christians the church is the community. It is the body of the believers. Jesus said to Simon Peter, ” And I say also unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. (Matthew16:18). It is clear from this passage that Jesus is the builder/ founder of the New Testament Church. Being a member of the body of Christ promises salvation. The word church comes from the Greek ekklesia which means assembly or gathering. But it should not be taken as a mere meeting place of the believers. It is much more than that. It is the temple of the living God. The church is the bride of Christ. To attain the bride God has paid a huge price: his own blood. The Acts says: Be on guard for yourselves and for all the folk, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of god which He purchased with His own blood” ( Acts 20:28) In the New Testament the church refers to the people and certainly not to a building. Jesus promised St. Peter that he would establish the Church. Though the Old Testament asserts that Israelites were the Chosen people of God The New Testament states that whoever believes in Christ can be now God’s Chosen people, his ‘Church’. St. Paul teaches that Jesus is the head of the Church and no Christian stands alone: “Though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body”. Jesus is the head of the Church.

12. Principal Divisions in Christianity

Christians are divided into two sects—Catholics and Protestants. In a way the former represent the traditionalists and the latter reformists. It is the authority of the church that divided them. The Catholics believe in holy sacraments for salvation and they consider the Pope as a divine authority. But the Protestants are of the opinion that man can directly interact with god and the mediation of the church is needless. Jesus is the sole authority and therefore his power is not vested in the Pope and the priests. Thus the latter is a reform movement, a protest against the false domination of the church and its authorities. But among the Protestants there are various groups – Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbytarians, Anglicans, Congregationalists and so on. Apart from these there are many groupings and regroupings within modern Christianity which are too cumbersome for a description.

13. Summary

Christianity as one of the dominant world religions today has its own religious practices. It has more than 2.4 billion followers all over the globe. Lord Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity. His entering the world as Christ is for the benefit of humanity. Christianity does not believe in the concept of rebirth and by following the teachings of Jesus one can attain the abode of the Lord.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
• https://carm.org/what-is-christianity
• http://www.christianity.com/

 Bibliography

• Hick, John. Philosophy of Religion, London: Prentice-Hall, 1990.
• Ratzinger, Joseph. Introduction to Christianity, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004.
• Smart, Ninian. Philosophy of Religion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
• Smart, Ninian. Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs, London: Pearson Publishers, 1983.