The history of the church is a history of assumed theological beliefs, legalism, and hypocrisy. It is only a rare kind of individual who can legitimately be called intelligent, and since most people are unworthy of being called such a thing, it is hardly surprising that most Christians are equally unintelligent. However, attacking the blatant stupidity of historical and contemporary Christians is often mistaken for an assault on Christianity itself.
Rejecting the church does not necessarily entail rejecting God or Christianity. Every Christian of substance will inevitably have to confront the chasm between church traditions and Biblical teachings (along with basic logicality). One can deeply appreciate and love God, Christianity, and the Bible without associating with the average person who identifies as a Christian, sincerely or otherwise. To turn one's back on insincere or irrationalistic Christians is certainly not the same as turning one's back on God or on genuine Christianity.
Just because Christians are often inconsistent does not mean that the Bible itself is. Similarly, just because Christians are often thoroughly irrational does not mean that the Bible itself denies reason. Nevertheless, it is not common for a Christian--or anyone else--to actually understand logic, the Bible, or science. To not distinguish between ignorant followers and the ideology they misrepresent is a failure of reasoning, and thus the two must be recognized as distinct.
The church has been full of shallowness and stupidity since its inception; only a fool thinks that the church at large has ever been a beacon of reason or truth or Biblical clarity. Several individual Christians might have much to offer, but large groups of Christians are often just as deluded and philosophically incompetent as any other large group. In order to pursue actual Christianity, one must regularly reject the fallacies of numerous Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment