World religions: what is christianity?

What is Christianity? This topic could take many more pages than an article of this nature should cover. However, the basic answer to this question is: Christianity is the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. That’s as simple as it gets. However, the question is a much larger, more complex one. The teachings of Jesus Christ have influenced millions of people, both Christian and non-Christian. What then, besides this core belief, makes up Christianity?

Christianity, as Christians understand it, is the completion of the Jewish faith. God promised He would send the Jews a Savior, or Messiah, and there is prophecy in the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures) that Christians believe point to Jesus as that Messiah. They believe that His resurrection after he was crucified proves that He was the promised Messiah. Christians also believe that Jesus is God’s Son — that He was fully human, as well as fully divine. This is a difficult concept, but it is central to the Christian understanding of Christ. Christianity is a monotheistic religion, that is, they believe in only one God. However, they also believe that He manifests Himself in three ways: as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This concept is called the Trinity, but does not imply three separate gods. We worship one God.

Christianity also includes a belief in the Bible as the whole, inspired Word of God. They believe that God spoke through men and these scriptures were written down. Christians believe that the teachings contained in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, are those teachings they should honor and strive to emulate.

However, for most Christians, particularly Protestants, Christianity must include a conversion experience. This can be dramatic, as happened when the Apostle Paul was struck blind on the Damascus Road. This experience can also be quiet and intimate. The point of the conversion, however, is that the person makes a conscious decision to serve Jesus Christ, and to renounce sin. This conversion, Christians believe, is an act of faith and faith alone. It is a free gift from God, and cannot be worked for or merited in any way. This is because orthodox Christianity affirms the presence of original sin. When Adam, the first man, ate the apple of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, against God’s direct orders, he sinned, and thus brought the tendency to sin into the human race. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because we are all sinners, we are all equally guilty in God’s eyes and none is better than another. We all stand in the need of the gift of salvation. Sin is the great equalizer. It levels us all before God. No matter how good we think we are, we stand guilty of sin. The conversion experience, when the person makes that decision, frees them of the sins they have committed, through forgiveness, and assures them they can ask for forgiveness for any sins they commit in the future. Salvation, contrary to popular thought, does not render a Christian in absolute perfection. It is something we strive for, every day.

How is this forgiveness of sin possible, then? Christians believe it comes through Christ. Because He was God, but also man, He suffered the same temptations and trials humans do. Yet, He lived His whole life without sin. He was a product of the Spirit of God resting on Jesus’ mother, Mary, and because he was not conceived of a human male’s seed, he was born without original sin staining His soul. However, being human, He did have absolute free will, and could have sinned, and indeed, was tempted to sin. In any case, Christ’s sinless life rendered Him an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of humankind. His death on the cross forever paid that debt. Because His life was freely given, out of the love God bears for his human children, the gift of salvation is offered free to anyone who asks it.

Someone who knows little about Christianity may ask why a Supreme Being would do this for the humans that have polluted His earth and done horrible things to each other. He does this because He bears a love for us that is beyond human comprehension. Christians believe that God loves each of us, no matter what we do, or what we are. This makes Christianity unique among world religions. It is the only world religion that even hints that the followers cannot merely follow or serve their Deity, but can know Him as father and friend, and can have a friendship with Him. Christians believe that each person can have a real relationship with God. They believe He does not keep Himself distant from His people--He earnestly desires a relationship with them.

Another question many people have about Christianity is "How can a loving God send people to hell?" Perhaps a brief explanation of hell will help answer this question. Hell was created for the fallen angels, that is, those beings who rebelled against God's ultimate authority, and suffer eternally for it. Hell, then, was not really created for humans. However, Christians believe that God cannot allow those who rebel against Him to go unpunished. Would anyone say that someone like Hitler or Jack the Ripper did not deserve a fiery eternity? How could God face the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust if He had not a final, damning judgment for Hitler? It is past imagining, for a Christian. The mention of the Holocaust also brings up another common question: "How can there be a God when He allowed the Holocaust? He must be a monster!" It might seem so. However, what about the free will that He gave to each of us? What about the millions of Germans and eastern Europeans who turned their backs on the Jews? Where were they when Hitler was formulating his final solution? Original sin creates evil in the human heart, and some people are determined to follow evil as their path. Because He gave us free will, God does not meddle with it. He called the Christians in Germany and eastern Europe to fight injustice, just as He called others. Could the Holocaust have been stopped if Christians had stepped up and determined that they would not stand for the atrocities Hitler was perpetrating? It is difficult to say, and this question is a difficult one to answer. It could be said that the decisive victory the raw U.S. Army achieved over the career, well-trained soldiers of the German Wermacht is an answer in itself.

Christianity calls its followers to live lives of purity, to fight injustice, to feed the poor, to love every neighbor. Most Christians would be the first to say they have failed in these goals, but they work to live up to these ideals each day. Christians are often accused of being intolerant and inclined to violence. This is often true, as any Christian will admit, because Christians retain their humanity and propensity to make mistakes. However, Christians also believe their faith and commitment call them to a higher standard of behavior, and most do strive for that higher standard. However, in the Christian faith, God still loves even the most burned-out and world-weary of His disciples, and this gives Christians hope. It also means that no Christian has the right to brag about his or her accomplishments. A Christian's humanity is the leveler. It should keep a Christian from becoming prideful, knowing they are prone to error, as well.

Christianity calls its followers to live a life of holiness in a world that seems to be falling apart. That duality is difficult to reconcile, on occasion, but Christians believe the reward is worth it--eternity spent in Heaven with Jesus.

Christians do not believe in reincarnation. They believe in one shot at life. However, they also believe that, one day, Jesus Christ will return from Heaven, and ransom all Christians still living, and the end of the world will come about. This event, often called "The Second Coming," has been the subject of many books and movies, and seems to have captured the popular imagination.

In conclusion, Christianity is a religion of faith in action. Our faith spurs us to act in ways that we believe are pleasing to God. Churches, denominations, individual Christians may all dispute with each other, but our core beliefs, if we really are Christians, are the same. We are all one Church body, even with the varied denominations, and our variations in beliefs are generally on minor doctrinal issues, and preferred styles of worship.

Most Christians believe the words of the Apostle's Creed, one of the oldest statements of faith in Church history. These are the tenets all who espouse orthodox beliefs can agree on.

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontious Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. On the third day, He rose from the dead. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic (universal) Church, the communion saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, Amen."

Or, as Queen Elizabeth I said, when faced with the religious turmoil of her reign, "There is but one Jesus Christ. The rest is a dispute over trifles."