IF YOUR CHRISTIANITY IS JUST A MORAL RELIGION BASED ON A MYTH, IT’S WORTHLESS by Silverio Gonzalez for Core Christianity
My Facebook and Twitter feeds are blowing up with Christians who are decolonizing, deconstructing, rethinking, and reforming their Christianity because of the abuses they have experienced from Christians and in churches. I understand. Christian history is rife with abuse. Justifications of horrific practices done in the name of Jesus—from the crusades to slavery, from the abuse of women to the spiritual abuse of prosperity preachers who demand obedience without question—distort Christianity are still with us.
A little searching or even scrolling through Facebook or Twitter will reveal Christians supporting slavery, defending men who have used their position in ministry to assault and rape women, and justifying nationalist brands of Christianity whose Jesus is portrayed as a participant in the American Revolution with a rifle in hand and a flag draped over his back. I understand people who say, “that’s not my Jesus.” That is also not my Jesus. I understand the desire to reevaluate and reform Christianity. Evangelical Christianity was birthed out of a movement in the 16th century to reform the Catholic Church.
In every age, Christians need to ask if the faith they received is consistent with Jesus and the teachings of Scripture. This questioning must arise from a clear foundation of who Jesus is, what Jesus accomplished, and the apostolic testimony contained in the Scriptures. The apostolic testimony is essential to our faith. It’s the foundation and without it, according to Michael Horton, any attempt to salvage Christianity as moral teaching—no matter how noble the cause or how just the endeavor—is a waste of time.
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