The Purpose of Christianity

Dr, Atul Gawande is an internationally known surgeon and author working in Boston, Massachusetts. He writes books and articles about performance and the human quest to do and be “better.”

Dr. Gawande has said that, despite the best efforts of his parents, he is not a very good Hindu. He did, however, find the Hindu rituals meaningful when his father died and the family gathered in India to scatter his father’s ashes into the Ganges River which is sacred to Hindus.   The rituals gave Dr. Gawande a sense of solidarity with his family and a feeling of continuity with his history; a sense of belonging to something bigger than himself.

I think that many Christians also see this as the purpose of religion. That, and also the civilizing effect that religion can have on their children. They totally miss the point!

Here is a list of some of the things which Christianity is NOT about: Making us feel good about ourselves. Connecting us with our families. Socializing our children. Making us into nice people. Creating social justice. Fighting abortion or sex slavery. Fighting poverty. Continuity with our traditions. And many more.

Christianity is about bringing glory to the Lord God. All the other good things, important as they are, come about because we wish to obey and glorify God. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

Southern Baptists Elect First Black President

On 19 June 2012 the Southern Baptist Convention unanimously elected the extremely popular Pastor Fred Luter (b. 1956, Louisiana, USA) as its president.  This had national significance because Pastor Luter is black. 

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the world’s largest Baptist group and is the largest Protestant body in the United States. The SBC is evangelical, congregational, and  insists on only believer’s baptism (they are anti-pedobaptists). The Convention was founded in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia (USA) during a dispute with Northern Baptists over slave ownership.  The Northerners refused to allow the appointment of slaveholders to positions of authority.

After the United States Civil War , most of the black Baptists in the American South withdrew to form their own organizations, culminating in 1895 with the National Baptist Convention.

Though the majority of Southern Baptists have long since left behind their embarrassing origins, it was not until 1995 that the group officially renounced and apologized for its racist origins.  By 2008, the SBC had over one million black members.

Amazing Grace

The largest portion of the lyrics of "Amazing Grace" were written by John Newton (1725-1807), a former slave trader.  Before his conversion he was a disgraced Navy deserter and was known as an       obscene, vulgar, profane, and violent man.  In his lyrics, he meant what he said. (the lyrics of stanza six are from an unknown source.)

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Are We Not Men?

On 14 April 2010, I posted a comment on the film, Island of Lost Souls. The "happy" paradise built by Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) begins to fall apart when his man-animal hybrids begin to ask, "Are we not men?"

Island of Lost Souls is a very perverse film which can be uncomfortable to watch even today. Many considered it to be a frontal assault on the prevalent political and religious order. The film was banned in some places and in Australia it received the N.E.N. designation: "not to be exhibited to natives;" the aborigines or "Bushmen."

The motivation for the N.E.N. designation was the same as that which produced laws in the pre-Civil War American South which made it illegal to teach slaves to read. Many especially did not want the slaves to read the book of Philemon.

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You can read more about this film and others which stretched moral, political, sexual, social, religious, and ethical boundaries in:

Doherty, Thomas, Pre-Code Hollywood. Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934 (NY: Columbia University Press, ca. 1999)