Reply #168: Wow! Very good questions

[sangha]

Though I do agree with that brief description of Christianity, I have to also admit that you make a good point. In defense, I'd say that while I do agree with the brief as a quick summary of Christ's main teachings, it would not be accurate to say that is what Christianity is about. There's a lot more to it, so your charge of reductionism is not inaccurate.

As far as how Chritianity is different from other religions, I happen to think that all religions are, in their essence, incredibly similar in that they all preach a love for all people, the dangers of materialism, and the benefits of valuing certain intangibles, such as spirituality. They do frequently differ on exactly how many Gods there are, with numbers ranging from zero to many, but I've often viewed that as variations on the philosophy of God's nature and how it manifests itself in the natural world as well as something that might be influenced by environmental and cultural factors. This is why I don't identify with any one specific religion.

When you come right down to it, you've described an unverifiable motivation (love God) for verifiable actions (love man). If someone acts out the love man part, what difference does their motivation make? Which is to say, when you reduce Christianity that far, it loses any claim to being different from any other moral code that includes a golden rule.

I found that part about the unverifiable motive for verifiable actions extremely thought-provoking. Intuition has me suspecting that the effort to link this is an important part of the religious instinct, for lack of a better word. And again, I'd repeat my belief that all religions, at least to my knowledge, are remarkably similar.

I thought that if you wanted to be a Christian, you had to accept a number of other things, including the divinity of Jesus and blood redemption, at minimum.

Actually, AFAIK, there's nothing in the Bible that quotes Jesus as demanding the acceptance of any such list of ideas, acts, etc. Jesus preached a philosophy over and above the list posted above. The rest was added on later.

If you're a Roman Catholic, then the Pope decides those matters for you. However, in the world of Christianity, one can join whatever church one chooses to, and can even start one's own church. No one can tell you (with any authority) that you're not a Christian.

I'm not convinced that you'd find many Christians who'd accept your formulation as the sole qualification to call yourself Christian.

As far as I know, there are no statistics around to tell us exactly how many Christians think one needs to do x, y, and z in order to be a Christian and how many think one needs to x and y, etc so I don't think it's possible to prove it either way. However, there are Christian sects that are known for their liberal requirements.

And I'm glad you posted that. I found it very interesting. Thank you.