Religion, Relationship, Or Reality?

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ,
God making his appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:20 ~

Many have said, myself included, that Christianity is a "relationship, not a religion." What do you think about this statement?

I believe it comes down to Columbo Tactic #1, which would ask, "What do you mean by religion?...What do you mean by relationship?"

Wanting to clarify this topic, I would say that Christianity is Reality...

If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend checking into one or all of these links...here, here, and here.

Here is an excerpt from Wintery Knight:

My concern with the notion of Christianity as a relationship is that people will cash it out as a subjective thing that they do for fun privately and that it is never the basis of public actions or words. And my fear is that without theology, people just project their own character onto God and discern his character through their feelings and intuitions, instead of through a study of the Bible and theology (emphasis added).

Fallacies: Genetic Fallacy #2

In a prior post, I had mentioned an example of the Genetic Fallacy...here in this post, I would like to expose a second example of the Genetic Fallacy...

"Christianity is just a crutch."

In other words, the person is fallaciously inferring that the origin of a Christian's belief simply stems from his/her dependency on a safety mechanism or a support system. But as stated in the prior post, the origin or how one comes to believe in something does not necessarily prove or disprove the validity of such a belief...to make a claim that "Christianity is a crutch" is totally irrelevant to whether or not Christianity is true, and simply shows that the person who makes the claim does not have a clue about logic or rationality.

So once again, take a tactical approach to turn this on the atheist or whoever makes this fallacious claim...here is a great way to do it, from Greg Koukl, (author of Tactics: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions).

"Some say Christianity is just a crutch. But let's turn the question on its edge for a moment. Is atheism an emotional crutch, wishful thinking? The ax cuts both ways. Perhaps atheists are rejecting God because they've had a bad relationship with their father. Instead of inventing God, have atheists invented non-God? Have they invented atheism to escape some of the frightening implications of God's existence? Think about it."

Fallacies: Genetic and Appeal To Pity

Most non-believers claim to be champions of reason, logic, rationality...but to the contrary, the non-theist usually ends up being the more illogical when it comes to world view issues, evident by numerous fallacious statements made in any given conversation. Normally, this comes about because the atheist, agnostic, etc are very good at making assertions, but very bad at making arguments. Two very common fallacies include the Genetic Fallacy and the Appeal to Pity.

Genetic fallacy#1 "You are only a Christian because you were born in the United States."

Notice, this is an assertion...not an argument, and therefore, the non-believer is in a tricky situation because the one who makes the claim, bears the burden...and this presents a problem for someone who commits the genetic fallacy because the origin of one's beliefs or claims does not confirm nor deny the validity of such a belief or claim.

I can believe that 2+2 = 4 because I learned it from a text book or because I learned it from Sir Isaac Newton...it does not matter what my source of belief is, what matters is whether or not the belief is true (i.e Explanatory Power, Cumulative Support)

So if the non-believer really wants to be a champion of reason, they must provide an argument with valid reasons, not simply dodge reality by stating fallacious assertions.

Tactic: Use a question to show them their fallacy by turning it back on them:

"So is it your belief that the only reason I am a Christian is because I grew up in a Christian society?"

They have to answer yes to this question based on their claim...

...now simply reply, "Well, you just believe that because of the society in which you grew up in."

In the next few posts, look for Genetic Fallacy #2, (“Christianity is a crutch for the weak”) and the Appeal to Pity fallacy, (“You mean that all of those other religions are wrong and their followers are going to hell?”)