Christianity grew out of Judaism and remains influenced by it in some of its beliefs (monotheism) and writtings (Old Testament). But it is an entirely different religion from Judaism. They differ in their worship ceremonies (church vs.synagogue), some of their writtings (New Testament) and beliefs (the divinity of Christ; Trinity) in the object of worship (Jesus Christ), in their veneration (the community of saints), hierarchy (priesthood) and in their practices (sacramentology, dietary practices). No Christian consideres himself or herself a Jew and no Jew considers Christianity to be a sect of Judaism. Paul was constantly battling a group of Christian-Jews known as Judaizers who wanted Christianity to be a sect of Judaism and bound by the Mosaic Law. Paul's assertion that they were two different faiths and that Christians were not bound by the Mosaic Law won out. In its early years Christianity was viewed by the Romans to be a sect of Judaism, but with the destruction of the Temple in 70AD, it then became obvious to the Romans that Christianity and Judaism were two separate belief systems and they were treated as such.
Of course, but faiths that share a God are unquestionably related. Christianity meets the very definition of a religious sect. There is a third definition, which has nothing to do with religion, but perhaps has negative connotations that you are feeling. I do not suggest Christianity is extreme or dangerous, only that it is a derivative church separated from an established church . . . with different beliefs perhaps, but sharing a diety, laws, rites, and sacred objects. A sect. Oy!
Per dictionary.com, "Extreme - of a character or kind farthest removed from the ordinary or average." Extremism is a relative term & if I had my own country, Christianity would be considered extremism. My motives are only to get people to think & discuss.
My point is that you do not consider christianity extreme because you've been raised around it (and other religions) your whole life. Religion in any form could be considered extreme by someone who had never been introduced to the notion.
And who would that be? 99.99% of cultures and societies worldwide have some forum of religion or worship. Would it be a fair statement to say that you consider almost the entire world to be extreme because they have been introduced to religion?
Its a trick question! The answer is both yes and no. Christianity started out as a cult with few followers, but through power, greed, and malipulation became one of the major religions.
I shall now try to conjure up the spirits of Martin and Ramah to enlighten us on this perplexing thread.................:thumb:
Aliens. No, that would be an ignorant statement because that is not at all what I said or implied. Merely being introduced to religion does not make one an extremist, it just moves their views of moderation - allowing religion to not appear extreme.
