Terrence said:
Taijasa,
Wow, that was some cool stuff you said there. Are you a Christian? I understand what you said that most Christians are more broad on the issue of not believing in Jesus and still being able to go to heaven, but is that what the Bible says? I keep reading in the Bible that Jesus is the only way to God and thats why I asked about it. This stuff sounds kind of exclusive and scary to me.
Well, depending on where you come from, Christianity is not exactly a single belief system, but a mixture of them. Different people approach Christianity from different angles. They come from many different walks of life. A lot of people fall for the trap of trying to define Christianity. But alas, I believe Christianity was never supposed to be defined, it was only supposed to be
explained and shared with others. There's a difference between defining and explaining something. Definitions are concrete. Explanations put things in context.
So what ties Christianity together? What are the central ideas?
There is a widespread notion in the Christian world that Jesus, a man who lived 2,000 years ago, was a leader with a special purpose. One flavour of Christianity is focused on his role as a spiritual leader. Some people consider Jesus to be special. Others do not. The second group doesn't believe that Jesus should be special since they don't believe he should be "idolised."
My personal view is that if Jesus was not special, there'd be no point to Christianity. Christianity rests on Jesus' role. My exploration of the New Testament convinces me that Christianity is about Jesus' special role. In other words, Jesus was not some guru with good ideas, theories and a philosophy. Jesus didn't teach philosophy. He responded to people's questions about life, gave them his opinion but didn't personally found a philosophy. He wasn't out to be a philosopher or theorist.
Is Jesus special or not?
Well . . . I don't think you should make up your mind on this question until you have explored the boundaries of Christianity (which are actually quite wide boundaries). Ask yourself the question, "why
should Jesus be special?" Don't judge people who think Jesus should be special. Try and understand them better.
What was his mission?
There was that question of whether you can be a "Christian Muslim." What is a Christian? What is a Muslim? Don't fall for the technicalities. Don't fall for any "magical formulas" for "divine truth." You could argue that "Christians cannot be Muslim" or "Christians can be Muslims" depending on what you think it means to be a Christian or Muslim. Put things in context. Some people see Jesus as a personal spiritual leader. If that is Christianity, and Islam does not characterise Jesus as a personal spiritual leader then "Christian Muslim" would be an oxymoron. But as I said, put things in context, what do you mean by "Christian" and "Muslim?"
Don't assume anything about Christianity. If you're starting out, keep your mind open. That's because the Christians you meet are not necessarily open-minded. We all come from different walks of life. Different things have a different meaning to us.
Christianity has a core. Find it. Good luck on your search for Christianity's heart. What you discover may not come from a book. It will mostly likely come from your intuition. Trust your feelings and listen for the Spirit.
