What is Christianity? There are two ways to answer this question…and one way is much more useful than the other. Two-thirds of humanity – the two-thirds that don’t call themselves Christians – define Christianity as that which the one-third of humanity who call themselves Christians has done and is doing. In other words, non-Christians define Christianity around Christians. Oddly, many Christians do the same. The far more useful way to define Christianity is to base it on what God in Christ has done and is doing. That’s the productive difference: letting the words and deeds of Christ define Christianity. After all, who would know more about the subject: the leader or the followers? Followers are all over the map – some follow Him closely, some hardly follow Him at all, and most are spread all over the middle. Therefore, defining Christianity by Christians really won’t necessarily tell you very much about Christ because their obedience to Him is not uniform. For this reason, to really understand what Christianity is – or should be – we need to go to Jesus and the Bible.
Christianity began in the garden of Eden when God told the serpent that the woman’s seed would bruise him on the head (Gen 3:15). There began the messianic hope. (Remember that Messiah is just another word for Christ.) God built on this hope throughout Old Testament times, which is why we’re always finding Jesus in the Old Testament (#FJOT). (Messianism is just another word for Christianity.) By New Testament times, Israel was ready for Messiah (Christ) to be revealed, but only a portion of them believed. Then the Gentiles – those who had been left alone while God had been building messianic hope in the Jews – were invited to join in believing. Only a portion of them have believed, too. The full blossoming of Christianity came in the coming of the kingdom of God (“The Second Coming of Christ”). Most people have only seen Christianity as a rosebud; it’s long past time they should see what a rose in full blossom looks like.
My purpose is to describe the fully-blossomed rose. That’s why I produced and still maintain this website; and that’s why you come to it. At some point you won’t need me because you’ll know how to practice Christianity without human help; until then, I will remain your servant for Christ’s sake (2 Cor 4:5).
A Bible Reader's Website 