Assaults on Christianity are far from a threat to the faith. It is how Christianity advanced. There is a growing popularity in Christian and faith based movies and television. Mega Churches draw vast audiences for the word. So why is Christianity so impotent, not only in politics but in shaping society and our popular culture. Christianity shaped the world as we know it today. Christian moral standards have been recognized the world over. So why is Christianity now so quickly disregarded as a source of viable solutions to the world’s problems.
Christianity rose out of Judaism, a people set apart to worship the one God and await the Messiah who would bring God’s kingdom not twice but once. Christianity was taken up by the gentile, the Roman Empire. The Romans elevated their leaders to a god, among a host of gods. Though they expressed revulsion for human sacrifice the Romans were encompassed by barbarians among which the practice was common. Science was often attributed to the works of the gods. It was a time when life in this world was hard and fleeting for most.
To attempt to explain the Holy Trinity the Christians of the fourth century turned to the Greek philosophers for answers. Under the guidance of the philosophy of the Greeks the conflicting views of the Holy Trinity emerge; one group known as the Homoousions, the other the Homoiosions. (Catholic and Orthodox) No, that is not a typo, one letter makes the difference. That difference was not whether Jesus Christ existed from the beginning, but whether He was the exact same substance as God or not. This disagreement led to violent religious and political conflicts that included massacres.
Now there are thousands of Christian denominations, each claiming that the Bible is the clear and perfect word of God and that their interpretation of that word is the only valid interpretation. They often preach, especial at Easter, as if their prosperity and that of Christianity is a testament to the truth of their interpretation, as if God requires man to maintain a perfect understanding for His providence to advance.
However, despite all its human shortcomings Christianity advanced powerfully throughout history. Christianity is the basis for the law, morals and ethics of the world today. It shaped politics and society at large, for the better. The truth of Jesus Christ spread indomitable. The United States, the fruit of Christian culture, I believe to be the greatest testament to Jesus and his salvation that exists today. People of the persecuted faith, the founding fathers of this nation, embraced the leading thought of the day, religious and philosophical, and created as close to a perfect political system as possible. It exists, and can only continue to exist, in conjunction with the Christian faith.
Yes, Christianity believes in a kingdom not of this world, and generally believes this world will cease to exist with the Second Coming. That never stopped the Christians of the past from believing that a Christian ideal should be sought on this earth. Perhaps Christianity’s ability to bring hope to the hopeless, to change the hearts of men, followed by ever improving living conditions fostered this belief in an earthly Christian ideal. The monastery stood as an example of the strive for that ideal, an example that honored the spiritual and valued education.
The United States was founded by those seeking religious freedom; Christians who found themselves with a land of opportunity spread out before them. A world that valued education in a time that has been called the last era when a single mind could comprehend every study known to man at one time, and such a man was held in the highest esteem. The founders esteemed natural law and freedom endowed by God in their pursuit to create an ideal nation here on this earth.
Christianity, like any religion though out history, was the center of people’s lives; every part of their lives and society. There was no concept of separating Church and State. They correctly understood that there is only one truth and the closer you adhere to that truth in all things the better one’s life and society, the world, will be.
Through the history of Christianity there was The council of Arles, Milan and Nicaea, among others that brought together the entire Christian world to resolve differences in belief. The Council of Constance was held to reform a corrupt Church. These efforts were all in recognition that there is only one truth. It was important to get it right. Words mean things and there are great ramifications associated with them.
When the Church broke apart the bloodiest of religious wars, The Thirty Years War, followed. It was resolved by The Treaty of Westphalia, where the parties ‘agreed to disagree’, each side thinking the other evil. Afterwards Science and philosophy advanced at an extreme rate. Eventually the seeds of communism were sown among the masses. Communism came with the promise of salvation in this world and Christianity has been on the defensive ever since. The faith in one truth began to erode.
Could you ever imagine worldwide Christianity coming together in a modern day conference to work out their differences, to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to this world? Where scholarly studies may exist that address the great advances in science and philosophy in relation to Christian doctrine, does anyone believe the doctrine will advance accordingly?
It appears more likely that in this modern age Christianity is more than willing to embrace homosexual marriage, an abomination to God, than to alter doctrines of faith that have existed for hundreds if not thousands of years. Christianity would rather further divide, than to revise their doctrines in order that they may align as one with the truths of science and the advancement of philosophy; the search to understanding humanity’s ability to comprehend God, the unseen (including scientific principles) and the diverse things of God’s great creation. Hello Galileo.
Have you ever read or watched any science fiction in which Christianity exits? Hard to explain “every eye will see” Christ coming in the flesh on the clouds, and the earth coming to end in the final judgment of all mankind, if man has expanded throughout the galaxy, if not simply the solar system. I saw an article on an engine concept that will take man to Mars in 39 days. NASA has advanced one more step to comprehending the reality of a warp drive. We are documenting hundreds of Earth like worlds, at least in size/gravity and relation to their sun, in the galaxy. Does anyone not believe man will reach the stars? As scientists comprehend “the God particle”, a key to creation, Christians contemplate the end of days; the destruction of this world and the casting into hell of all who disagree with them. Christians would rather hide behind objects of faith then seek out a more perfect truth.
Intelligent design, a near perfect proof of the reality of a creator, is confounded by those insisting God created in six twenty-four hour days. (Okay, God is all powerful. He can do anything He wants. So why… I don’t even have to fill in the blanks)
Amidst this challenge by science, communism has claimed the intellectual high ground. To the communist spirituality is superstition and morals a method of suppression. The challenges of an easy and indolent lifestyle typical in this modern age has spawned unprecedented levels of immorality.
Yes, many Christian openly oppose abortion, gay marriage and other depravity in our society. Many have done great work in combatting the falsehood of the communist ideology. They are part vocal minority shutout by those in control of the media and isolated into their own small pockets of Christianity. There is no united Christian front. Christians have given up on an ideal to be found in this world and have buried their heads in the clouds. How can you explain the small fraction of Evangelicals that vote even in Presidential elections.
The majority of Christians, from the lay believer to the religious, have grown soft, lazy and cowardly. As I watch Christians being persecuted around the world I have to ask myself; ‘Where are the Christian missionaries?’ I know many sincere Christians go throughout the world doing good works at great personal sacrifice. They just must not be going anywhere too dangerous. Should not the arrest, prosecution and even execution of Christian missionaries be common place in Muslim nations if the Christian faith were truly vibrant? Martyrdom had been an integral part of the faith as it grew. As Boca Haran and other terrorist organizations execute indigenous Christians in mass why is not the entire Christian world united as a faith in opposition?
Today’s Christians hide behind their faith rather than re-evaluate what they believe and why, and the origins of those beliefs. They refuse to humble themselves to the truth of God’s creation around them. They give validity and power to the most atrocious lies through their silence, rather than take a courageous stand on God’s behalf. For many Christ has become a mere concept. They bury their heads in the clouds, neglecting their responsibility to their fellow man, to Jesus Christ, as the world burns around them.
Whether terrorist, revolutionary or member of a fringe religion, can the efforts or sacrifices of devout modern Christians match that of others in their causes. Many Christians devout more to their political parties and to saving the environment then to their Church. They think little of the philosophies behind the causes they support, and believe it out of place to exert their faith into their political or social lives.
Yes, there are mountains of exceptions to my astute observations. They are few and far between in relation to the enormity of Christianity. Christianity has failed to come together in recognition that there is one truth and that they are responsible to propagate this truth to all, in all aspects of life. The failure of Christianity to battle and defeat falsehood, a culture of godless socialism and immorality, is bringing great destruction to this world.
Take Barack Hussein Obama as an example. If Obama had never been elected President how many more people in this world would be alive today? How much more opportunity and prosperity would have been available to the citizens of this nation, and other nations, that they could have use to create a better life for themselves and their families? But he was elected President and he ruled by the word he believes in. Words have power spoken or written, true or false. They take root in the hearts of men and bear their fruit in season. no matter what the color of one’s skin.
A world in contradiction with itself will fall apart and our world certainly looks like it is falling apart. The world we live in was created by one truth, and can be guided productively in all things only by that one truth. There is no happy conglomeration of disparate truths.
