TUESDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2013
Christian: Follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
This Christian thinks it is ridiculous that anything has to be confessed, that there should be displays of faith with ritualistic recitations of doctrines, that recognition should be given to God in public and in private, to “his” name, what “he” is, and so on.
He will ask: “Do you mean I have to gather with other people and confess that I believe I must love my neighbour? Why would I want to do that? No, I’ll just love my neighbour. That’s what Jesus taught.” This person will also agree with the idea that Jesus is not an insecure teenager whose identity should be confirmed as often as possible by people who “love” him.
The Jesus whose teachings are followed by the Christian in my mind’s eye will most probably not think much of ritualistic congregations filled with emotional displays. Chances are he will only be impressed if you actually love your fellow human beings, give them a blanket when they are cold, give them shelter when they are homeless, and so on.
The follower of Jesus as I think of him will also not attach much value to the identity label of “Christian”. He will simply say you can call him what you want. All that matters to him is to love his fellow human being as he does himself.
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What is the Christian religion? Is there something like a true Christian? What were Jesus’ true intentions, and what were the intentions of early church leaders like Peter and Paul?
I don’t think there is any doubt that church leaders in the decades after Jesus’ death were aware that they had a religion to administer and lead.
MONDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2013
I was thinking of something tonight – giving people the space to be as human as you allow yourself to be, and the next moment I was testing and trying words and phrases to explain my position regarding religion.
It came down to this: In my early twenties I got the overwhelming impression that the Christian religion with which I grew up and to which I had become increasingly attached in the first two decades of my life was man-made. To put it differently, in my opinion the Christian religion is steeped to the bone in teachings that show a human hand – or, in the words of a renowned German philosopher: “[It is] human, all too human.”
Important to explain what I mean by steeped to the bone: Once you start cutting away doctrines of the Christian religion that seem, after careful consideration, to be just too human to be “divine”, there will not be enough left of the patient for it to survive.
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