Analysis on Christianity

Introduction

It seems odd that while I have made 3 essays regarding Christianity, I have not made a proper introductory essay on Christianity itself. As such, this shall be the official introduction towards my analysis of Christianity. Christianity is a unique religion, it is just as filled with traditions and rituals as other religions, yet has no sign of a bias or obvious specific cultural or regional elements. Unlike Judaism which is strongly rooted in the culture of the Jewish people, Islam which has deeply rooted Arabic elements, Hinduism and Buddhism which have very obvious Indian elements. In fact, it is no coincidence that Jesus was rejected, for being too globalistic and ahead of His time. Moreover, Christianity is the largest religion in the world, as such I believe it is only wise for us to analyze this enigmatic religion.

One Story, Two Messages

The story of Christianity centers around the person named Jesus of Nazareth, His life, His teachings, and His death until the resurrection and ascension. It has two unique messages however, which are painted by one story. The first message is a set of moral codes humans are supposed to follow, this is illustrated and elaborated in the various teachings, parables, and miracles of Jesus Christ within the Gospel. The second message, tells of Jesus’ sacrifice as well as the truth of God. The moral messages in the Gospel are quite straightforward, on the contrary the story of a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind as well as the truth of God is much more mysterious, and many interpretations of it have been made, few are close to the truth.

Moral Code

The moral code of the entirety of Christianity, or at least Christ can be summarized with two commandments, that is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength as well as loving your neighbor as you love yourself. This is recorded in Mark 12:28-34, Mathew 22:34-40, and Luke 10:25-28. Essentially, we must love God wholeheartedly, as well as love fellow human beings as if they are ourselves. As such, we must love ourself first before we can love others, as if we don’t love ourselves, we won’t understand how to love others. All other moral teachings are in the end, based on these two commands. What of the commands of homophobia and so on? That shall be discussed further later on this essay.

Jesus

While the official doctrine of Jesus within Christianity will differ from my analysis, this is because I am taking this from another perspective. The common belief is that Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins of mankind. This much is true, but I’d like to add more. How does Jesus atone for the sins of mankind? Many view that it is only a physical death and suffering that Jesus endured, that is a misguided view however. As it is shown that Jesus cried in Gethsemane before He is captured, throughout history men and women have braved death with even smiles, so how could Christ not brave physical death?

The only logical conclusion is that Christ fears a deeper level of suffering. Jesus fears a spiritual death and suffering. As Jesus dies on the cross, His soul is dragged to hell in exchange for all of humanity. Jesus was cursed for the sake of mankind, it is a misguided view that His curse is lifted once He is resurrected. Though His body awakes, His soul remains in eternal damnation so no one else must endure the same. But how can Jesus walk and speak when His soul is in damnation or hell? Just like how the kingdom of God described by Jesus is not a place, neither is hell. As such, it is important to understand hell, sin, and death to understand Jesus’ sacrifice.

The wages of sin is death, death described here is not mere physical death, nor is it oblivion. When you commit sin, you have surrendered your freedom and you become chained, either by the flesh or by something else. Eventually, you will fall deeper and deeper into a darkness and depravity. And you will be alone in an eternal darkness, you have no hope of escaping on your own and you are constantly tortured immensely by guilt and various pains that arise from your sin. The darkness described is what is known as hell, absolute depravity and corruption. As such, hell is a condition, and it is possible for one to be in hell, yet walk the earth. Meanwhile, the state of being unfree described here is what is known as death. Thus, death is a logical and natural consequence of sin, not because God wishes it or commands it.

And that is the death that Jesus endures so we don’t have to feel the same. The only inhabitant of hell as of now is Jesus and only Jesus. How is it that He can survive such pain without turning insane? It is because He is in direct communion with God. Which is why He mentions that He is one and the same with the Father. However, He is still human in nature, and the pain He endured was since He is still in His mother’s womb. Since in the womb, Jesus knew that He will suffer, be rejected, and be misunderstood and there is nothing He can do about it. This did not leave Jesus unscarred, He becomes wounded deeply, and carries the curse of knowledge until His death.

The evidence is scattered around the Gospel. The only record of His childhood in the Gospel, that is in Luke 2:41-51. Jesus’ unusual response towards His parents as well His discussion with the teachers there proves that He has a deep understanding of the world by then. We can then infer that He knows everything that shall happen as well. His response and general behavior recorded in the Gospel proves that He hides a deep pain. His language is harsh, cold, and strict. He shows no sign of softness of mercy towards His opponents such as the pharisee and the scribes. In fact, He oftenly mocks them, usually calling them hypocrites. The only time He showed His true emotions and self is when He is alone with God in Gethsemane. Where He cries in despair and pain, for while He is surrounded, He is truly alone.

As such, it is a truly misguided view that Christ is always in glory, and it is wrong to constantly glorify Christ and idolize Him. While Jesus never asked anyone to understand Him, He has never asked to be constantly glorified either. I agree that Jesus deserves glory for what He has done, but it is not what He feels. He feels pain and our constant idolizations merely adds to the pain. Furthermore, the view that we humans are below Christ is simply false, as Jesus Himself calls us His friends as recorded in John 15:15. As such, what we must do is view Jesus as what He truly is, and now what He is not. We must understand that Christ is no less human than us, and feels the same pain and struggles we do, even worse.

Systemized Misinterpretation

The over idolized view of Jesus can be traced to one thing, misinterpretation of the Gospel and the bible. No word of Christ in the Gospel is to be taken completely at face value. Even if it seems literal, we must strive to keep searching for the meanings and messages from it. The concept that there is no salvation outside of Christ is also a result of misinterpretation. Other than the Gospel, the Church has made another fatal mistake. That mistake is they take the word of man for the word of God. How is this true? You see, within the bible, the only group of books that is truly a record of the word of God is the Gospel, and no other.

What of the old testament? The old testament is merely a record of the Jews, and should not be used as a source of moral code. I am not saying we should ignore it completely, I am saying that the old testament is mostly word of man. Even when it is written as the word of God, it is still delivered by people that received word of God, that is the prophets. Prophets, being humans are fallible, and since the old testament is very old, we can not trust them very easily. The fact that Judaism is very ethnic centralized means we can not take the old testament plainly. We must dissect it with higher discretion than the Gospel. Laws that apply in the old testament certainly does not apply in the Gospel. What of the rest of the new testament?

Books after the Gospel merely describe the journey of the apostles and also their letters to the early Church followers. These letters are merely interpretation of the Gospel in the apostles’ perspectives. As such, if we take the letters for the absolute truth, that means we have strayed from the truth. The authors of the letters and the ones who made these interpretations are humans. They can be wrong, and we should analyze and dissect their words to know which are right and which are wrong. After all, commands of homophobia are found within these letters as well as complete submission towards authority and the State. The letters can be used as a starting point, but it is merely that, a starting point for further interpretations. It is our duty to expose the true meaning of Christ, and not swallow the apostles’ words plainly.

Closing

In conclusion, Jesus Christ is a man that chose to sacrifice Himself in the worst ways unimaginable so humanity does not have to suffer the same. In the 3 years He teaches, He laid down the truth in various metaphorical, literal, and complicated forms all recorded in the Gospel. His teachings have been greatly misinterpreted by the Church, which also made the fatal mistake of taking the word of man as the word of God. I believe that is all I have to say, I hope you have a nice day.