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Chris
11-29-2012, 02:48 PM
Recently the question is atheism is religion was raise, and some interesting discussion ensued.

Other day O'Reilly said "It is a fact that Christianity is not a religion, it is a philosophy."

Oh? Is that true? Is Christianity a religion or a philosophy or what?

GrassrootsConservative
11-29-2012, 02:52 PM
It has the 3 things that I was taught all Religions have.
It has beliefs, it worships something, and it has people (read sheeple) who follow it.

Buddhism is a philosophy, because those who "follow" it don't worship Buddha, he's just "The Enlightened One" who became "Enlightened" with the philosophy.

That's just me, though.

Kizzume
11-29-2012, 03:03 PM
I have a friend who jumps up and down saying that Christianity isn't a religion. He also believes in black helicopters, government concentration camps, chemicals in the water to control people's minds, he believes in every homeopathic remedy and thinks doctors and medications are a scam, he believes in every conspiracy theory he reads and doesn't believe the established news, and every time he talks with me he has to tell me about some new conspiracy he read about and believes wholeheartedly. The only other people I've seen try to claim that it's not a religion are the types who have to painstakingly mention Jesus or the Bible every other sentence.

Carygrant
11-29-2012, 03:47 PM
It would be interesting and enlightening to hear a qualified professional explain the differences between the the two terms that make the Topic worthy of discussion .
My days of Linguistic Analysis are distant memory but I suspect a reasonable position is that Religions are one class of Philosophies and have a god as an explanation of fundamental causation .

nic34
11-29-2012, 04:30 PM
I think it could be said that Christianity (like any religion) CONTAINS philosophies, but that just isn't enough to exempt it from being called a religion, because it contains so much MORE than just a set philosophy.

Many things contain philosophies yet still avoid the trappings of religion like prayer, belief in supernatural events and beings, or worship of said beings.

A business mission statement could be labeled a "philosophy", but that doesn't mean that JP Morgan Chase or Coca-Cola can start decorating government property with "tenets" of their business model.

Or does it......? What do YOU worship?

Deadwood
11-29-2012, 07:00 PM
Recently the question is atheism is religion was raise, and some interesting discussion ensued.

Other day O'Reilly said "It is a fact that Christianity is not a religion, it is a philosophy."

Oh? Is that true? Is Christianity a religion or a philosophy or what?

Obviously O'Reilly knows nothing about religion, Christianity or philosophy. There is a sight twist, however, in that it's founder was a Jew. Other than that, ladies and gentlemen I think we are safe in calling Christianity as a religion; what the fuck else would you call the Roman Catholic Church? An empire of philosophers?

Things must be really slow if the nattering class has to go there. Absurd.

Chris
11-29-2012, 07:02 PM
I have heard Christians say it is not a religion, not a philosophy, but a relationship with God.

Deadwood
11-29-2012, 07:11 PM
I have heard Christians say it is not a religion, not a philosophy, but a relationship with God.

It is that. But, and you would be hard pressed to clearly define what you see in my little Baptist church as religion, and I am, thank you, in a relationship with Jesus.

But, look around. Not all Christians are alike and practiced in the matter of the Roman Church it is definitely a religion.

Chris
11-29-2012, 07:17 PM
It is that. But, and you would be hard pressed to clearly define what you see in my little Baptist church as religion, and I am, thank you, in a relationship with Jesus.

But, look around. Not all Christians are alike and practiced in the matter of the Roman Church it is definitely a religion.

Right, and that's the point of the thread to get different views on it compared to O'Reily's black and white simplification. I'm thinking you're the first Christian to respond so far, appreciate that, hope more do.

Peter1469
11-29-2012, 07:25 PM
I think that Christianity is different to different people. Some see it as a philosophy, some a religion, and some a relationship with God.

Mister D
11-29-2012, 08:09 PM
The practical effect of 2000 thousand years of Christianity has been the development of particular patterns of thought and perceptions of reality among westerners regardless of their faith or lack thereof. Perhaps that's what O'Reilly meant. I don't know. I overheard part of the segment but left the room. I had better things to do than watch O'Reilly yell at some neurotic Jew.

Mister D
11-29-2012, 08:11 PM
It has the 3 things that I was taught all Religions have.
It has beliefs, it worships something, and it has people (read sheeple) who follow it.

Buddhism is a philosophy, because those who "follow" it don't worship Buddha, he's just "The Enlightened One" who became "Enlightened" with the philosophy.

That's just me, though.

Like Limbaugh's sheeple?

Calypso Jones
11-29-2012, 08:26 PM
I don't suppose anyone checked the DICTIONARY.

Chris
11-29-2012, 08:33 PM
I don't suppose anyone checked the DICTIONARY.

What would you find there about Christianity?

Calypso Jones
11-29-2012, 08:38 PM
cheese and crackers guys. Look up the definition of Philosophy and the definition of religion. LoL

Chris
11-29-2012, 09:20 PM
cheese and crackers guys. Look up the definition of Philosophy and the definition of religion. LoL

Then I'd say you're drifting of topic with noncontributory comments. Call that a warning.

Calypso Jones
11-29-2012, 09:23 PM
Then I'd say you're drifting of topic with noncontributory comments. Call that a warning.

a warning for reminding the brains here to check the dictionary?....the first thing that elementary school children in earlier times used to know to do right off the batt.

GrassrootsConservative
11-29-2012, 09:24 PM
Like Limbaugh's sheeple?

Quite the off topic comment, don't you think? :grin:

Calypso Jones
11-29-2012, 09:25 PM
It would be interesting and enlightening to hear a qualified professional explain the differences between the the two terms that make the Topic worthy of discussion .
My days of Linguistic Analysis are distant memory but I suspect a reasonable position is that Religions are one class of Philosophies and have a god as an explanation of fundamental causation .

Here. This is what gave me the idea that no one thought of the DICTIONARY.

Chris
11-29-2012, 09:27 PM
Quite the off topic comment, don't you think? :grin:

Agree, off topic too. See rule #9 guys.


Calypso Jones, thread banned for that and rule 8.

Mister D
11-29-2012, 09:28 PM
Quite the off topic comment, don't you think? :grin:

I see you'd rather not defend your comment. Good idea.

roadmaster
11-30-2012, 05:14 PM
I don't consider me as being religious, a Christ follower, just a layman.

Sunbelt
01-05-2013, 11:29 AM
Websters refers to it as a religion:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christianity

For me, Christianity is Christ centered, and it is about following the teachings of Jesus. That sounds like a religion to me.

GrassrootsConservative
01-05-2013, 11:34 AM
Websters refers to it as a religion:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christianity

For me, Christianity is Christ centered, and it is about following the teachings of Jesus. That sounds like a religion to me.

That would make it a philosophy, like Buddhism.

Deadwood
01-05-2013, 11:37 AM
Christianity is a faith first of all, encompassing many religions and sects. It is also a philosophy on which most of our laws are based; the Neplianic laws being a furtherance of the morality laws of the middle ages.

Atheism is also a faith, in that it is a belief in something that cannot be proven.

It is not a religion.....

Chris
01-05-2013, 01:24 PM
Depends how you define atheism. If you define it as belief God does not exist, then it is a faith like any other. If you define it as without belief in God, then it is not.

Peter1469
01-05-2013, 02:43 PM
Depends how you define atheism. If you define it as belief God does not exist, then it is a faith like any other. If you define it as without belief in God, then it is not.

bingo

Seriy
01-16-2013, 10:53 AM
Christianity that is Biblical is Faith of Salvation.

nic34
01-16-2013, 10:57 AM
Websters refers to it as a religion:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christianity

Christianity is Christ centered, and it is about following the teachings of Jesus.

And nobody does it.

Seriy
01-16-2013, 11:23 AM
And nobody does it. Yes it is. Nowadays too many people are slipping away from Christ's Grace and are just calling themselves as Christians. They drop to Hell anyway.

nic34
01-16-2013, 11:34 AM
http://assets.amuniversal.com/e82566d03c0e01300ca9001dd8b71c47 (http://thepoliticalforums.com/#mutable_877017)

Chris
01-16-2013, 11:46 AM
.

Nemo
01-16-2013, 02:04 PM
Christianity is a cult started by the so-called apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus), a confidence man who set it up as a pyramid scheme by inventing the story of Christ’s resurrection from the dead and his vision of him on the road to Damascus to swindle gullible people of the time through a series of chain letters (the "Epistles"). When charges were brought against him, he managed to evade prosecution by claiming Roman citizenship, under which authority he was transported to Rome and imprisoned in the Carcer of the Forum Romanum until Nero had him put to death.

Mister D
01-16-2013, 02:07 PM
Christianity is a cult started by the so-called apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus), a confidence man who set it up as a pyramid scheme by inventing the story of Christ’s resurrection from the dead and his vision of him on the road to Damascus to swindle gullible people of the time through a series of chain letters (the "Epistles"). When charges were brought against him, he managed to evade prosecution by claiming Roman citizenship, under which authority he was transported to Rome and imprisoned in the Carcer of the Forum Romanum until Nero had him put to death.

All religions are cults, Nemo.

Your conspiracy theory regarding Paul is rather interesting. :smiley:

Peter1469
01-16-2013, 03:27 PM
I wonder how much money Paul made with that scheme?

Mister D
01-16-2013, 03:29 PM
I wonder how much money Paul made with that scheme?

You know those itinerant preachers. Taking cabs across the street and all.

littlejohn
02-26-2013, 10:51 PM
Ummm... both at once (is and is not a religion)

I'm not a liguistics expert and only an *armchair philosopher, but i spent some time on this with some folks last year, and arrived at this; a religion is a political unit, a subset of a larger category called politics. Even the little church on in the country where people just want to worship together-- IF it carries one of the big name brands, (you know the list) it will eventually be counted and funnel money up to the controlling political entity which will strive to drive the moral agenda at the government level, and further to act ensure nobody in the legislature will tamper with the non-profit definitions and rules. I also believe there are Christians that dont belong to any church, which is fine. they dont need to.
In summary, my response is this; Yes a portion of the Christian Community constitutes a religion (due to its political nature) and another portion of the Christian community is not counted as a religion. I did not address the question of philosophy because I am concerned for your attention span. More , if anyone cares to hear it.

Ivan88
03-04-2013, 04:11 PM
Here is what anti-Christ Talmudists think about Christians:
18531854

Dr. Who
03-04-2013, 08:11 PM
Ummm... both at once (is and is not a religion)

I'm not a liguistics expert and only an *armchair philosopher, but i spent some time on this with some folks last year, and arrived at this; a religion is a political unit, a subset of a larger category called politics. Even the little church on in the country where people just want to worship together-- IF it carries one of the big name brands, (you know the list) it will eventually be counted and funnel money up to the controlling political entity which will strive to drive the moral agenda at the government level, and further to act ensure nobody in the legislature will tamper with the non-profit definitions and rules. I also believe there are Christians that dont belong to any church, which is fine. they dont need to.
In summary, my response is this; Yes a portion of the Christian Community constitutes a religion (due to its political nature) and another portion of the Christian community is not counted as a religion. I did not address the question of philosophy because I am concerned for your attention span. More , if anyone cares to hear it.

I knew there was a reason why I refuse to belong to any religous group!

Chris
03-04-2013, 08:55 PM
I knew there was a reason why I refuse to belong to any religous group!

Do you do that religiously? :wink:

Dr. Who
03-04-2013, 09:27 PM
Do you do that religiously? :wink:
Yes LOL. Oops, that makes me a religious group of one. Ha Ha.