Christianity is the largest religious group in the world, with over two billion adherents. It is a beautiful religion that has at its core love of God and neighbor, and that the life and sacrifice of Jesus point us to The Way, The Truth and The Light. Christianity is not just a faith of saving us for the next world, but of bringing God and the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth.
I write this in the season celebrating the birth of Christ. There is much debate as to what the true meaning of Christmas is. But it is easier to tell if one simply returns to the two birth stories told in the bible. It tells of the acceptance of the stranger and the alien, as Mary and Joseph struggle to be accommodated in Bethlehem. It tells of a savior who has come for the poor and the marginalized, with Mary's beautiful Magnificat, and with the invitation to the lowly shepherds.
Luke 1:52ff. [Mary's Magnificat.] "He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were hungry. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed."
But, as with any large and diverse group, heresies slip in. Not just in differences in ritual and worship, but in ways that subvert and turn the religion's purpose on its head. This has been seen in other religions as well. Islam, a religion of peace and social justice, a faith with Abrahamic roots, has been turned by extremists into something unrecognizable to true adherents.
Christianity has not been immune from this contamination. There have been several alarming heresies that have threatened to upend Christianity, particularly here in the United States. Some have grown quite large, and for many, they have ruined their view of what Christianity really is.
The following is a brief, introductory listing of the most damaging, egregious heresies currently having a negative impact on the true faith. Hopefully, I can go more into detail on each one in subsequent posts.
The Prosperity Gospel
The idea that prayer and being devout is equivalent to God granting you prosperity. Often, this is connected to televangelists and mega-church preachers who promise that if you give them "seed money," those seeds will grow to give prosperity to you in return. This heresy equates prosperity with God's blessing. This implies that those who are poor have fallen into that because they fall short in the eyes of God. They don't work hard enough, are not pure enough, and don't have enough of the right kind of faith.
Why is this dangerous? Because it turns on its head the entire reason for Christ's mission and teachings. It justifies the mistreatment and ignoring of the poor, that instead of offering a helping hand, we offer them the back of our hand and blame them for their own condition. It also turns God into a fairy Godmother who answers prayers, especially selfish prayers for money and material goods, with a magic wand. And then, when your prayers are answered, you feel not humble and unworthy but are instead filled with self-righteous pride.
The Rapture and Impending End Times
This has reassembled the several notions throughout the bible that there will be a day of judgment and reckoning, that there will be a day when the Kingdom of Heaven comes to Earth and has turned it into an imminent concern that it will happen any day now, and that a chosen few will "vanish" and be taken directly into heaven.
The rapture is not ancient text, but a fairly recent theological interpretation, convoluting specific texts to mean that just before the end times commence, some will be "raptured" directly to heaven. It also takes the Book of Revelations and tries to translate it into current events, and constantly re-sees those events as foreshadowing the apocalypse.
Why is this dangerous? Like the Prosperity Gospel, it increases people's smugness and self-righteousness. It increases the idea that you are special, and others are not. It also increases the likelihood that your focus is not on trying to make this world a better place, but on preparing yourself for the next. Some may no longer care about being good stewards to the planet because the end times are nigh and why work so hard to preserve an environment that will soon be in God's hands? Some may look at current events and actually cheer the dangers they see because they are additional signs that the prophecies are coming true. We are now considering political candidates who believe these things, and you have to ask - do we really want to elect someone who may want to encourage and bring about these signs?
The Modern Born Again Phenomenon
Yes, Jesus saves. Yes, the walk with Jesus, having him in your heart and being, acting as the hands and feet of Christ to benefit those around you, are central tenets to the Christian faith. No one should dispute that. But the whole idea that there is a prescribed ritual that people must follow, that they must say a precise thing, that they must have public testimony, that conversion is one magic moment and not a journey, is wrong and damaging.
Why is this dangerous? Because Christianity is a journey, not a fixed point. Yes, there are moments of revelation, moments when faith comes sharply into focus, when love and hope fill you up when the spirit moves you. But to emphasize that there is one moment when you are saved and that it happens in the same prescribed way for everybody is wrong and harmful. To suggest that when one is "born again" that all sins are washed away, and that even if you sin again, it won't matter because you have had the one moment of being saved is inerrant The "Born Again" phenomenon does not strike me as true spirituality, but more like something out of the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
The Bible Can Only be Read Literally
This heresy propagates the idea that the Bible must be read literally, word for word, It believes if the whole is not true, then none of it is true. Again, this is a relatively recent theological development. The Bible was written over a long period of time, by many diverse hands and many writing styles and purposes. It contains poetry, history, parables, lessons, and myth. Different authors explain the same events differently, sometimes in ways that can't be resolved. It is much more powerful interpreted as literature than it is literally.
Why is this dangerous? I don't hardly know where to begin. First, it alienates thinking people because it is impossible to really read and analyze the Bible and believe in its literalness. Second, it leads one to question basic science, denying evolution and how the Earth was created, just to name one. Religion should not be at war with science, but a literal interpretation sets progress and scientific truth as the enemy. Third, and most damaging, people don't read the bible as a whole and try to derive the overarching message, they instead pick and choose selected passages as supporting their own hatreds, prejudices, and resistance to change. Hate gays? Then isolate and find those passages you can convolute to defend your bigotry. Want to keep women as second class citizens? There are passages for you! If you want to, you can even string verses to justify slavery. But you can't do those things when you get out of the trees and look at the forest as a whole.
America is a Christian Nation
No, it's not. Yes, many of our laws and concepts are Judaic-Christian in origin. But our nation was founded in large part by deists who had seen the damage that the conflagration of church and state had caused in Europe. They took great pains to keep the Constitution-free of blatant religious references or endorsements.
Why is this dangerous? It alienates the greatness that this nation is supposed to be - a great melting pot where freedom of religious expression is allowed. No one wants sharia law imposed on us, but the same is true of right-wing Christian concepts. Freedom of religion does not mean the freedom to impose your religion on others.
The irony is that Christianity is actually a faith of acceptance and love and tolerance for all, that the call to evangelism is done by the love we demonstrate for God and our neighbors. That the good news is preached through how we live and love, not by fear and intimidation, The most dramatic way that Christianity took root is not by the state-enforced machinations of Constantine and his successors, but in the poor and disadvantaged of the Roman Empire in the first couple centuries following Christ's death and resurrection. Believers who come to Christ in love, inspired by those who practice the word and way, are ten times more worthy and solid than those who come by fear and state-controlled imposition.
I apologize. This is long, by blog standards. And I still feel like I have barely gotten into the outline. Please do not interpret this as a rejection of Christianity. It is actually an endorsement of true Christianity and a fervent hope that we will, in greater numbers, return to our roots.
May the light of Christ shine within you, and may you act as the hands and feet of Christ to shine that light for others, and make this a better world for all.
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