The question to start with is this, “Is Christianity a noun or a verb?”
In other words, is Christianity an action word or a label? Think about it.
To the Evangelical and Fundamentalist groups, Christianity is not a Religion! These guys understand one language — Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) one of the anthems of the Reformation. This is the belief that the Christian life is solely based on what is seen, heard and written in the Bible alone as interpreted by them alone. In other words Sola Scriptura makes any Protestant out there who can read a Pope to himself or herself period! Okay got that.
By the logic of this belief, it sometimes amazes me how they come up with this unbiblical position that Christianity is not a Religion. I sometimes wonder how they pick and choose certain Scriptures or are they ‘Catholic’ blind?
If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:26-27 KJV)
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27 NIV)
If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:26-27 RSV)
Next, Evangelicals and even most mainline Protestants think that Jesus said tradition is bad when our Lord referred to the traditions of men as follows:
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.’ But you say, ‘If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.’ So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” (Matthew 15:1-9 RSV)
Got that? Now to the traditions of God that the Catholic Church uphold which can be traced back to the Holy Apostles of Christ Jesus:
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. (2 Thessalonians 2:15 RSV)
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you. (1 Corinthians 11:1-2 RSV)
Now what people?
For Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, Church is all about Bible Studies where Scriptures upon Scriptures are taught and quoted without a careful investigation of its historical, biblical context. Worship to other Evangelicals is all about music and musical concert and stuff like that. It’s about feeling high and getting caught up. . . that is the Christianity they understand and not as a sacrifice and Eucharistic celebration as in the Catholic Mass. So many Evangelicals, Fundamentalists and other Protestant communities have claimed that Catholics are not Christians. That’s an old age anti-Catholic rhetoric and as the Bible says, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 RSV) I’m quite surprised to hear a Calvinist claiming that Roman Catholics are not Catholics. I almost got confused when Turrentinfan said that to me when I showed him my video “Are Catholics Christians?”
I can understand the fallacious claims by Sedevacantists when they make such claims but not from a Presbyterian since I was once a Presbyterian too at least via baptism 🙂
As though these are not enough, some of my Russian friends who are Orthodox say that the Catholic Church is no longer Orthodox and that they are the Catholic Church but in order to differentiate themselves from us, they have to adapt to the Orthodox name. I shall be addressing those technical issues later. Christianity is a verb! Thank you.
Originally published at Ignitum Today formerly Virtuous Planet on the 11th of October, 2011.