Why do you go to church?
To study the Bible.
Why do you study the Bible?
So that I know I should go to church.
Why do you go to church?
To study the bible.
Why do you study the bible?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
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5 comments:
Good try, and it's funny but it's not very true, I think. No one reads the Bible for that reason.
Your point may be true enough. The idea that this cycle perpetuates itself is fine, i.e. being a Christian for the sake of being a Christian.
Maybe this works better:
Why do you go to church? Because I should.
How do you know you should? Because the church tells me so.
I was going for the funny.
I did have in mind the never ending series of bible studies/sermons some Christians go to and it's all about getting together to hear the word. Getting together for each other, even though that's what they might have studied, is for some a distant secondary consideration.
I'll give you that one! Getting together to learn about how to love one another, instead of actually doing it. It's like a team of football players that sit in front of a chalk board with the coach but they don't actually play any games.
Good post. Though when I start to study the Bible closely, I become less inclined to go to church as we have it defined today.
Church, as defined today, dates back to around 325 AD. Emperor Constantine was the founder of the first buildings and paid clergy. He envisioned Christianity as a system from which to rule much like the Roman empire. Modern sermons date back to John Chrysostom (golden mouth) (360 AD) who was first trained in pagan rhetoric. Interestingly his sermons centered on denouncing ecclesiastical power grabs.
Direct similarities to modern church are easy to link to the 4th century but there really is no resemblance to Jesus' life or how the early Christians lived out their faith.
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