What do you need to start a religion?
Perhaps the better question is, why your religion?
Watch our Truth in Two to discover everyone has a religion, subscribes to a theology.
Subscribe to MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).
Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
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“What would you have to have to start a religion?” It was a question I asked sophomores when I taught high school. A cascade of answers was shouted out. “Priests! Holy book! A savior! Heaven!” The responses poured in. I dutifully wrote down each one on the chalk board.
Once they exhausted their ideas I encouraged, “These are all great ideas and certainly should be included.” They knew the “But” was coming as a smile crept across my face. “But, what makes your religion different than all the other religions?” And then I added for good measure, “And, what would it matter if your religion didn’t exist at all?”
Teaching in a Christian context, I wanted the class to carefully consider what it would mean if Christianity were not true. You see, I knew then, and I know now, that competing truth claims are all around us. There was a reason why I entitled the unit I was teaching, “Christ IS Christianity.” All believers depend on the historic space-time event of God becoming human in the person and work of Jesus. All of Christian theology depends on the real, perfect person who lived on earth, died a physical death, and rose again historically from the grave.
For years, a sign that read “Everything is Theological” hung on my office door. Everyone everywhere has a theology, a belief system, a way of life, a mindset or lifestyle that guides their beliefs. In our current culture, people’s theology, their religion, could be politics, the environment, or social justice. If you are a Christian, however, your theology begins with the Christ who IS Christianity. The truth of Christianity is different than all other religions, all other explanations of Truth.
When Pilate asked the about-to-be-crucified Jesus, “What is truth?” our Lord gave no response. He didn’t have to speak Truth. The Truth stood right in front of Pilate. All religions are not the same. The differences matter more than the similarities. So, do you know what makes Christianity different than other religions?
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking the truth of important theological words for the Christian.