Christianity is a Religion, why do you say it's not?

Question

get a dictionary

for all of you said "who said it wasn't?" read all the responses that all say
"Christianity is a lifestyle, and also entails having a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ".
that's what they have been taught to say. Once again I say get a dictionary

Answer 1

Well it's actually a cult:

Cult

1 : formal religious veneration : WORSHIP
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion

3 and 4 didn't really apply. Since 4 was referencing a health cult and 3 called it unorthodox and that is in the eyes of the beholder.

Answer 2

Discussing Christianity with Webster's, as a primary source without the Bible; is much like discussing anatomy using Webster's pocket edition without Gray's Anatomy.

The first definition of religion in Webster's cannot apply to all or even a healthy part of religions present in the world. As such, the definition is unacceptable; although it represents common usage.

Religion from a sociological point is "something man does," that is a human activity. That is about the only definition that covers religions in all their human diversity. Under Webster's definition, and considering religion as something that man does; Christiantiy can be said to be a religion. "But!"

If you had stated your question thus: Christianity is a religion according to Webster's dictionary? My answer would be a simple yes.

How then can anyone then say that Christianity is not a religion? It stems from the fact that there are numerous definitions of religion even within Christianity. As already stated the dictionary definition is not adequate.

True Christianity is an organism; false Christianity is an organization.
True Christianity is a presence; false Christianity is a program.
True Christianity is a revelation; false Christianity is a religion.
(something that man does, a covering.)
True Christianity is a man; false Christianity is a method.
True Christianity is Christ; false Christianity is a creed.
True Christianity is separation; false Christianity is socialization

"Religions are coverings" doctrinal clothing which men put on to make themselves acceptable to something or somebody and even control others for gain and glory.
.
Christianity is not what I do but what He did.
Christianity is not sacrament but sacrifice.
Christianity is not business but brotherhood.
Christianity is not a covering but a cloning.
Christianity is not a group but a gift.

There is much more, but I hope this helps. Those who say that Christianity is not a religion should probably state that they see a true Christianity and a false Christianity; and see the false Christianity as no better than any other religion.

Now the question remains. Is my experience by definition a religious experience? The answer is yes. However, having a religious experience does not a religion make. Think of it like this. What Sidhartha had was a religious experience. What came after that was a religion.

In the case of Jesus Christ he did not have an experience as such; rather He is the experience that we are caught up in. Without being caught up in Him one cannot be found, now or in the future, in heavenly places If you follow religious orders your chances of making the perfect bliss of heaven are about equal to a modern Budhist reaching the perfect bliss of Nirvana.

Finally, if you cannot accept that there just might be a true religion and a bunch of false ones, consider it like this: The individual effort is spiritual while the corporate effort is religious. Those who see corporate Christianity as false; see it as a covering which hides, rather than exposes men to perfect freedom in Jesus Christ.

Adam and Eve established the first religion. The high church of the fig leaf. Problem was when God spoke they realized that the fig leaf religion wasn't going to work. Their next act was to run and hide -- and that my friend is what most religions really are; a hiding place from the only living God.

Answer 3

Yes, according to the dictionary, Christianity IS a religion. But religion has come to be known as "Oh I go to Church, so I am going to Heaven" or "Yea, I'm a good person, I wear a cross around my neck and even though I have no idea what it means..." and even "I am a God-fearing man" but they have never read the Bible and certainly don't follow it, so to say being a Christian is being religious would group true believers with all the hypocrites. Plus, if everyone accepted the beautiful gift of Christ God gave us, we wouldn't have to worry about what "religion" somebody is. It doesn't matter, because only those born again and washed in the blood go to Heaven.

Answer 4

It's a religion, yes, but it's also MORE than a religion. Christianity is a lifestyle, and also entails having a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

I know this probably doesn't make sense to those who aren't Christians, but it's the truth.

Edit: No one "taught" me to say that. Why do so many people believe that all Christians are brainwashed?

Answer 5

Man's definition is worthless when it comes to spiritual understanding even when it is penned by Webster who was a devout Christian.


Religion rises or falls on doctrine alone.

Christianity is a very personal relationship with a Holy God through His Son Jesus Christ. Hence Christianity is not a "religion."

Answer 6

It's a relationship with the person of Christ. All others are
a set of rules!


I don't care what any dictionary states. It's a freaking dictionary! Besides, what do you guys know about it?

Answer 7

well The dictionary may say that, but the truth is that being a born again christian is really not a religion but a personal relationship with Christ.
Religion is something you do religiously and it could be classified like that, but it is much more.. To pray and recieve answers from your own heavenly Father is something exciting. Religion is dull and boring and being a born again Christian is exciting.

Answer 8

They just beat around the bush. With all the bad things said about religion now a days. They just change their story. And I suppose they want to feel special or unique. And Christianity is neither of these two. They actually think it stands out from among all the other faiths.

Answer 9

Christian divisions
There is a diversity of doctrines and practices among groups calling themselves Christian. These groups are sometimes classified under denominations, though for theological reasons many groups reject this classification system.[81] Christianity may be broadly represented as being divided into three main groupings:[82]

Roman Catholicism: The Roman Catholic Church, the largest single body, includes the Latin Rite and totals more than 1 billion baptized members.[3]
Eastern Christianity: Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, the 100,000 member Assyrian Church of the East,[83] and others with a combined membership of more than 300 million baptized members.[3]
Anglicanism: The Anglican Communion is a group of Anglican and Episcopal Churches that are descended from the Church of England. Most Anglicans don't consider themselves Protestant or Catholic but believe that the Church of England always existed and wasn't formed during the Reformation but rather broke away from the Church of Rome.
Protestantism: Groups such as Lutherans, Reformed/Presbyterians, Congregational/United Church of Christ, Evangelical, Charismatic, Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Anabaptists, Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals. The oldest of these separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century Protestant Reformation, followed in many cases by further divisions. Estimates of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, partly because of the difficulty in determining which denominations should be placed in this category, but it seems to be unquestionable that Protestantism is the second major branch of Christianity (after Roman Catholicism) in number of followers.[3]
Some Protestants identify themselves simply as Christian, or born-again Christian; they typically distance themselves from the confessionalism of other Protestant communities[84] by calling themselves "non-denominational" — often founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations. Finally, various small communities, such as the Old Catholic and Independent Catholic Churches, are similar in name to the Roman Catholic Church, but are not in communion with the See of Rome (the Old Catholic church is in communion with the Anglican Church).The Roman Catholic Church was simply called the "Catholic Church" until other groups started considering themselves "Catholic". The term "Roman Catholic" was made to distinguish the Roman Catholics from other groups.[85][86][87]

Restorationists, are historically connected to the Protestant Reformation,[88] do not usually describe themselves as "reforming" a Christian Church continuously existing from the time of Jesus, but as restoring the Church that they believe was lost at some point. Restorationists include Churches of Christ with 2.6 million members, Disciples of Christ with 800,000 members,[89] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 12 million members,[3] and Jehovah’s Witnesses with 6.6 million members.[90] Though Restorationists have some superficial similarities, their doctrine and practices vary significantly.

Answer 10

I know what you mean. I roll my eyes when I hear people say "Oh I have a relationship with Jesus Christ and go to this Church in my neighborhood. But oh please, don't say that I have a religion! Yuck!" Yeah, right.

It's not just Christians who sometimes do this. I've heard other people, even within my own religion, say "Well [name of their religion] is not really a religion. It's more like a way of life." I think that's just self-righteous BS. The definition of "religion" doesn't change just because you're fervently into one particular one.