Faith?

Leany · 07-29-2005, 12:44 AM

Do you see christianity as a faith or a religion?

earcmra · 07-29-2005, 02:07 AM

Faith: Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

Religion: Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.

Off of those definitions (which are the first ones to show up on dictionary.com), I would call christianity a religion. I see religion as something that is more wide-spread and influential than something you just have faith in. A religion is more of a way of life. I have faith in lots of things (my family, my friends, my religious teachings, etc.) but I only have one religion, and that is one that is founded in Christianity.

I hope that made sense. Just my two cents.

Tharaa · 07-29-2005, 02:33 AM

I do not think Christianity was ever intended to be a religion,why?Because religion in my opinion is man made,(the institutionalized ideas OR denominations.Within Christianity we have hundreds of religions or denominations,all differ in the amount of faith they place on certain concepts.It divides people,instead of uniting them in one body of Christ.

KatrinaAnne · 07-29-2005, 03:22 AM

I think that it may be a combination of both

::HUGS::

Appollonia · 07-29-2005, 10:44 AM

Christianity is a faith.

Faith, as per above: Confident belief in the truth.
Religion, as per above :an institutionalised system based on the belief in a supernatural power.

Some aspects of the conduct of Christian fellowship is 'religious' in that it follows certain traditions, but these are more cultural than Biblically prescribed.

But, the Bible draws a disctinction between religion and faith....

John 1: 17 'For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ'

.....and a disctinction between religious and faith-based worship:

John 4: 19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

The reason Christianity is a faith is it reveals to us the person of God, the source of all truth, in the face of Jesus. It doesn't philosiphise about God, guess, imagine or debate who God may be and what he may want from us. It doesn't ask us to figure it out for ourselves or spend our lives trying to attain greater clarity and insight. Instead, this astonishing claim is made by a man who was born into a poor carpenter's family:

"I am the way and the truth and the life".

In Jesus is all the mystery, wonder, magic and beauty of the Lord God, our creator. The more you read his words, the deeper his mystery and magnificence impress themselves on you. And the more you recognise that he is the source of all the truth, the beginning and the end of it.

Instead of being asked to understand the truth and master it, we are called to develop a peronsal relationship with this man who walked as one of us but who came from the heavens above.

And, to them came this promise:

John 8 : 31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

When has religion ever set anyone free?

Tharaa · 07-29-2005, 11:01 AM

Man made religion but God made Faith! there is a difference

Leany · 07-29-2005, 12:42 PM

I see christianity as a faith but wanted to see what how other people viewed it as. Thanks to all who put in there input.

amshum · 07-30-2005, 11:48 PM

I believe Christianity is faith as well. Faith is belief, trust in and loyalty to God, which I strive to achieve daily.

cylynne · 07-31-2005, 01:11 PM

Agreed, true Christianity is a faith. There are also those that make it more of a religion (rules/regulations/etc), but I believe that at the heart of it all is a simple faith in Christ. Christ himself said that we should come to him as a little child would, and little children don't yet have a comprehension of all the man-made rules and cultural religious standards that we have.

earcmra · 07-31-2005, 09:11 PM

A little clarification to my earlier post...

I believe that Christianity is undoubtedly based in faith. If you don't have faith than there is no way that religion will work. However, I believe that religion is here because faith moves people to religion. I think that God did indeed found religion here to help others increase their faith in him and his son, Jesus Christ. Some religions were founded by people, but I believe that God did establish true religion (which works to draw people closer to him and increase their faith) here as well. So, I believe that Christianity is a religion which is founded upon and 100% relies upon faith.

Just my two cents.

LakotaGirl · 08-01-2005, 12:12 AM

I believe you have to have to faith to believe in God...Religion is the way we worship God.

Leany · 08-01-2005, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LakotaGirl

I believe you have to have to faith to believe in God...Religion is the way we worship God.

awesome way to put it!

Rebecca's Mom · 08-01-2005, 01:56 AM

faith is believe in jesus, believe in god and where we chose to worship is our chrisianity

Jashobeam · 08-02-2005, 05:39 PM

I did a Bible search (online Bible search engine) and found that the word "faith" (or "faithful") is in the Bible (NIV version) over 400 times. "Religion" was found only FIVE times, and all in the New Testament. To me, that says it all.

A few of the verses about Faith:
Jude 1:3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

2 Peter 1:1, 5
1. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 5. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;

Luke 7:50
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

1 Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

1 Peter 1:5
who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

James 2:18
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Philemon 1:6
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Titus 1:4
To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

The five verses that have the word "religion" in them:

Acts 25:19
Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.

Acts 26:5
They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.

1 Timothy 5:4
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

James 1:26
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.