I hate that word! People don't understand. A religion is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
This sound like a club or organization! Christianity is the relationship with God. Without all of the dumb rules and crap, It comes down to a relationship between God and his children. I hope you understand what i am saying..
After considering the above, anyone else hate the word religion?
2006-11-01 04:25:31 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, there are many things that make up beliefs yes. But what it comes down to that all Christians can agree on, it's the relationship... It's not the rest of it that allows us to serve God.
2006-11-01 04:29:23 · update #1
Dont get me confused with "DON'T GO TO CHURCH!" Because we are told to "fill up" on his word. We should go only for the message. Not for the legalists who think everything is wrong. We are also told to enjoy the fellowship with other believers.
2006-11-01 04:40:25 · update #2
I totally agree! I am a Christian, not a religious Christian, just simply a follower of Jesus. I refuse to get all caught up in the rules and regulations of a specific denomination. Instead I choose to focus on my relationship with God.
I just wish more people would see the difference between Christianity and religion.
2006-11-01 04:31:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing wrong with your definition, as it applies to Christianity. Jesus founded an organization, a church, an ecclesia, not a cult of loosley knit followers.
It is not the word religion you hate, it is human authority.
Either Jesus gave authority to His Apostles and their successors, or he didn't. The Church is a divine institution operated by sinful humans under the superintendence of the Holy Spirit, and the more you come to understand her, the more you love her. She is the Bride of Christ.
Pope John Paul II would agree with some of what you are saying: "...there is no Christianity without an encounter with Christ……. "Christianity is not simply a doctrine; it is a meeting, in faith, with God, present in our history with the incarnation of Jesus." World Youth Day 2004
This "new" Catholic teaching has been with the Church for 2000 years.
Nondenominationalism is actually the purest form of Protestantism. It is actually anti-church. How can you honestly say you obey God’s command that Christians “all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10)?
2006-11-01 12:50:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I agree that it is all about the relationship with God through Christ! It is not so much the word religion that I hate, but the connotation people give to it. I am a believer in Christ, and will always be, the denomination or Church I go to could change.
The word religion does not seem big enough to include my relationship and daily lifestyle. But it is the world that gives religion a bad name. It is satan's plan to discredit religion.
2006-11-01 12:45:55 · answer #3 · answered by shepherd 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't so much hate the word as I dislike the confusion it can bring to an individual...especially to someone who is lost or a babe in Christ.
When it all boils down to it you are right...a relationship with Jesus is key.
However, because the world is accustom to the term religion we must somehow work and speak in such a way that Christianity is seen as more than the defined religion but that relationship with Christ is essential.
2006-11-01 12:57:37 · answer #4 · answered by Chantla 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible states that there is only one pure religion in James 1:27,
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
And I doubt most people truely follow it.
So yes the word religion is not correctly used, it's more about a relationship with God.
I agree. God Bless.
2006-11-01 12:47:51 · answer #5 · answered by This, That & such 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I grew up in a very strict church and I don't like the word either.LOL Now days when I hear the word religion it makes me cringe. I am a follower of Christ and I follow the Bible. A lot of religions have some strange beliefs. If it isn't in the Bible I don't believe it. I don't add or take away from God's word.
2006-11-01 12:33:59 · answer #6 · answered by Tabitha 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I also do not like the word religion, for me Christianity is about a relationship.
2006-11-01 12:27:51 · answer #7 · answered by flashypsw 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Everyone who believes in a Deity (Deities) feels that way. We all feel we have a relationship within our religion. But, Christianity, is still a religion. It doesn't become a relationship till YOU do something with the religion itself.
2006-11-01 12:52:36 · answer #8 · answered by riverstorm13 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God bless you!!! You see the light, I have been living according to a little saying of my own, "All religions are wrong and only Christ is right". Religion was created by men and all of them are self destructive, stagnating and create pharisees. Christ is not a way of life, He is life itself, the Lord didn't say "I have come to give you religion and to give it to you more abundantly". Take heart my brother, this realization is growing.
2006-11-01 12:34:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely!
Religion is man's way to seek God, Christianity is Gods way to seek man.
Even the word Christianity has lost its radical connotations. Every one says, "oh, yeah, I'm a christian" but christ is not reflected in their lives. I prefer to call myself a christ follower, simply because it makes people stop and think for a second.
God bless you, my brother!
2006-11-01 12:32:31 · answer #10 · answered by x 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋