I have once again recently heard the phrase that Christianity is not a religion. That statement truly grates on me: “I am not religious; I am spiritual,” to which I sometimes sarcastically respond, “So are the Wiccans and pagan witches. That doesn’t make them holy.” Now there are two objections to this sentiment of being spiritual and not religious, the first Biblical and linguistic, and the second political.
First, the Biblical reason: The Epistle of St. James 1:27 states, “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.” The Greek word that is used here is θρησκεία which means religious worship, especially external – that which consists of ceremonies, religious discipline, religion. The Latin Vulgate of course translates θρησκεία as religio and states:
“Religio munda et inmaculata apud Deum et Patrem haec est visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum inmaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo.”
Religio means obligation, bond, reverence and derives from the verb religare which means “to bind together.” This word – θρησκεία for the Greeks and religio for the Romans – was used extensively by all the early Church Fathers who succeeded the Apostles in the first three centuries Anno Domini. The word denotes the binding together of the Assembly or Church (Εκκλησία in lingua Graeca and Ecclesia in lingua Latina) which is often advocated throughout various sermons with great eloquence. Yet there is this continued objection (regardless of denomination - the protest is almost always the same) to the word religion in spite of its Biblical, linguistic and historical basis. It is cognitive dissonance for me to count myself as spiritual yet not religious but still advocating the bonding together – religati – of the Body of Christ. Indeed, what people believe is meant by religion is really not the Christian religion. Perhaps it applies to the Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist religions, but NOT to what St. James wrote. Christianity is in fact the one true religion - the ONLY religion that is true, right and correct. It is a binding together of the faithful into the One Body of Christ, the One Bride of Christ. A personal relationship with Christ is absolutely essential, but that happens within and through the Body of Christ which is the Church, into which we are baptized as believers. It isn't "Christ and me." It's "Christ the Head and His Body the Church." We are bonded together - religati - members of that Body. It's THE religion, Amici!
Second, the political reason: the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States says:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
If one's spirituality is not a religion, then one is not entitled to any protection under the First Amendment for one's spirituality. So in this day and age of post-modern, neo-pagan liberal progressivism which seeks to shove atheism and hedonism down the throats of every authentic orthodox Christian who upholds the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman and the sanctity of life from conception onward, we ought to be very careful in making statements that say one's spirituality is not a religion. Again, what people often think is meant by the word religion and what it really means are two different things.
No comments:
Post a Comment