The word “Religion” is fairly widely applied to Christianity when nothing could be farther from the truth. Of course, from a demographics point of view it is convienient to classify Christianity as a religion but Christianity at it’s core is nothing more than the belief in the Gospel and a commitment to Jesus.

Typically people identify religion with a belief in God or the supernatural but these concepts are independent. There are religions (like Buddhism) without a God and supernatural beliefs (like Astrology) without a religious component. I would define religion as membership in an institution which holds precepts and enacts ritual.

The first Christians did not fit the bill – they were literally followers of Christ, people who believed in Him and followed Him around, learning to trust and obey Him and live as He did. For 3 centuries, Christians they were wandering, persecuted, vagabonds, with very little means, simply spreading the Good News. The institutionalisation began with Constantine and continues until today. I call this “hijacking the faith” and it stinks.

By getting back to the roots and reading the Bible without prejudice Christians throughout the ages have managed to break free of this institution, this religion, and discover the real message, the real Jesus, the living God. Fortunately the Bible has been faithfully preserved and this can be scientifically demonstrated undermining another vague modernist pseudo-theory that the Church has adapted the texts for its own agenda. What is true is that various parties througout the ages have promoted interpretations in support of political or other schemes. The success of cults which have done this was always inversely proportional to their followers knowledge of the Bible.

Jesus himself was anti-religion and vehemently criticized the religious establishment of the day. This establishment had him crucified – there was no compromise and no reconciliation. It is clear that Jesus of Nazareth would not be welcome in many churches today.

Jesus did not come to establish a new religion or give us a neat set of dos and don’ts. The unique focus of Christianity is a Person not a Principle. Jesus himself, his life and death, was the point of his ministry, his moral teaching secondary.