There are some challenges to Christianity that come up a lot, and in fact, I had one of the most common ones come up today. So I thought I’d share my response with you.

It was in a conversation over the telephone, someone I’d never met before, but whom I was interviewing for an article I was writing. In our pre-interview chit-chat, we were talking about the benefits and challenges of working from home, and ultimately, how I felt into this occupation, not by choice, but by providence. I joked how I’d much rather be doing something really fun, like reading obscure books on theology.

I realize that might be a strange thing to say, but I drop strange comments like this on purpose. Often, it is just comments like these that invite comment and provide introductions to discussing the gospel.

“You’d get a long great with my daughter,” he replied. “She’s also very religious. She’s getting a Masters in Divinity from Princeton.”

“Princeton?” I replied, noting his description of my love for theology as being “very religious.” “That’s great! Does she know the Lord? Or is she just interested in religion?”

I don’t remember his response, but the comment about “knowing the Lord” went right over his head. He talked about her lifelong love of reading theological books, and how, during mass, she would spit and sputter when she felt that the priest was taking parts of his homily out of scriptural context.

We continued talking about other aspects of religion and academia (and how they do or don’t mix), and then led back into the purpose of my call. Several days later, when I had the opportunity to mail him a draft to check his quotes for accuracy, I dropped a line at the end. “Oh, by the way, I’m always curious when people use the term ‘religious.’ How do you differentiate between being religious and having a relationship with Christ?”

He replied, “Relative to my daughter, I meant that she, unlike me, has a belief and respect in ‘religion.’  I believe in God, but really do not trust religions.  I believe that all of them are man-made and are someone’s interpretations of the gospel, the Koran....”

It was just the opening I had hoped for. Here is my actual response to him. I hope that you will find it helpful next time someone drops the same comment on you. 

There are comments here relative to Catholicism, since this is the background from which he was coming, and they are not meant as any disrespect to practicing Catholics, only observations about this faith in contrast to historic Christianity.

I totally know where you are coming from. To me, "religion" is about man trying to understand and please God, from his limited understanding, and with his own subjective biases. Hence, religion's emphasis on things you have to do to please God —  have the "right" beliefs, "right" behaviors, "right" gifts, prayers, or sacraments. Hence the "we're all trying to get to the same place" theology.

Ironically, this is where Christianity is actually unique from all of the world's religions, although most people aren't aware of it, even most Christians. Most people approach Christianity like any other religion — study the Bible, do what it tells you to do, do what the church tells you to do, and you'll be okay. But that's actually CONTRARY to the teachings of historic Christianity (and, with all due respect to your daughter's faith, it is also where it differs from Catholicism).

Historically, going back to the teachings of Jesus and the disciples, Christianity is a historical faith based in a PERSON.  Unlike any other religion, it teaches that our salvation and relationship with God is found in a person, Jesus.  Not his teachings, but the person himself. Jesus himself taught that, by placing our faith in him, we are reconciled to God. And contrary to the teachings of the Catholic church, that faith is sufficient. The Apostle Paul wrote, "We are saved by grace [God's unmerited favor], NOT BY WORKS [including right belief, right behaviors, sacraments, or anything else] lest any man should boast."

What other religion in the world teaches that? That by placing our faith in a person, Christ, we have eternal salvation? That is the uniqueness of historic Christianity.

The other uniqueness I find interesting, and the reason that simple faith in a person can wipe away our sins and reconcile us to God, is that unlike any other great moral teacher, founder of a religion, or writer of a holy book, Jesus claimed to be God Himself. Not a god, little "g," but the one and only Creator God Almighty.

This really simplifies things for me. If Jesus was right, then I can trust him completely and rule out the possibility of any other religion, whether formal or informal. And the really cool thing is that we don't need to look only at the New Testament to decide. There is more evidence for the life, teachings, death, and even resurrection of Jesus than any other ancient event.

In fact, several years ago, Dr. Gary Habermas wrote a book that asked the question: If we didn't have the New Testament, or even any other early Christian writing, and we look at first and second century secular writings, what would we know of Jesus' life and ministry? The incredible thing is that the core of historic Christianity can be found there — his miracles, his claims to be God, his cruxificion, his resurrection, and the fact that the earliest Christians (who saw him, heard him, and knew his teachings intimately) were worshipping him as God immediately after his resurrection. So if the New Testament didn't even exist, historic Christianity would still stand.

Thus, placing our faith in Christ, as Savior God and the one who wipes away our sin, isn't an interpretation that people are making 2,000 years later, re-writing history through their own religious lenses. This is the actual teaching of Jesus himself as recorded in history. We can go and look it up in the original manuscripts, if we had the funds and desire to travel around the world to the libraries housing them.  Any other religion would absolutely crumble under the same test. 

This, to me, makes Christianity unique and, more important, trustworthy. Because, if I place my faith in Jesus, I'm reconciled to God. Everything else — even my obedience to the moral teachings of the New Testament — is all gravy.  And I don't have to sort out one religion from another, one subjective interpretation from another. Even if I get part of it wrong, it doesn't matter. I can look at the historical evidence, decide for myself if I believe Jesus. If so, then everything else is secondary.

It's quite cool, actually.  Forget all the extraneous junk, the distractions that take you away from the real issues. Get down to the meat of the matter and it gets really, really simple. It absolutely strips us of the foolish trappings of debates about holy books, interpretations, and the like.  Was Jesus who he said he was, or not? Now THAT's something I can sink my teeth into!

If you're interested in the book I mentioned, it's "The Historical Jesus" by Gary Habermas.

Sorry for rambling, but as you can tell by our earlier phone call, it's what I do. :)

Heidi

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