A Heretic Speaks
I realize that I have not spoken much about faith recently. Not so much that it is no longer on my mind, but rather, what is on my mind is rather subversive. For it is interesting to see that at her infancy, Christianity embraced diversity. Yet, many of the churches today seem to deplore it.
It is also interesting to note how much of what we consider orthodox Christianity, came from a sea of diverse views, and how many of them we devised a few hundred years after Christ. Of course, the "hand of God" is oft used as a reason for the preservation of orthodox Christianity, yet how true is it? Was the reason why the tennets of faith became accepted as such, because people who devised them were really after the heart of God, or were they really trying to control people?
Many think of Constantine as the first Christian Emperor, yet he used to worship pagan gods too. So, was he a real Christian, or did he have other motives for the Edict of Milan, which gave Christianity favour? The rise of the Anglican church resulted from Henry VIII's disagreement with the Vatican, and him wanting a divorce. In view of that, why is the monarch of England, the defender of the faith?
Unravelling the essence of the Gospel is a difficult, but I sincerely think that there was never an intention for it to be in any way political. Yet, how often does the church become political? Even in this day and age, when society is by and large, secular, the church is still a political structure, even down to the small independent churches. There are ranks in church, even though the essence of the Gospel talks about the equality of humankind, as sinners saved by grace.
Time to do more thinking...
It is also interesting to note how much of what we consider orthodox Christianity, came from a sea of diverse views, and how many of them we devised a few hundred years after Christ. Of course, the "hand of God" is oft used as a reason for the preservation of orthodox Christianity, yet how true is it? Was the reason why the tennets of faith became accepted as such, because people who devised them were really after the heart of God, or were they really trying to control people?
Many think of Constantine as the first Christian Emperor, yet he used to worship pagan gods too. So, was he a real Christian, or did he have other motives for the Edict of Milan, which gave Christianity favour? The rise of the Anglican church resulted from Henry VIII's disagreement with the Vatican, and him wanting a divorce. In view of that, why is the monarch of England, the defender of the faith?
Unravelling the essence of the Gospel is a difficult, but I sincerely think that there was never an intention for it to be in any way political. Yet, how often does the church become political? Even in this day and age, when society is by and large, secular, the church is still a political structure, even down to the small independent churches. There are ranks in church, even though the essence of the Gospel talks about the equality of humankind, as sinners saved by grace.
Time to do more thinking...