"Religion! Who needs it?" or "Religious Tyranny:"
If you can see it, all the persecutions of true Christians has come from the religious. In this writing I am going to point out what I see in religions.
In the days of the Tower of Babble men made up religions based on their imaginations. Each religion had a leader who, with a supposed higher knowledge of God, lead the people. These leaders used this to control others.
When Constantine, a man who knew many false gods of the world's religions, organized the Christian church into a physical Church, and a state sanctioned church, he set it up like all of the other religions of the times. He was influenced by the Pagan Roman religions as well as the Jewish religion.
It was not long after Constantine made the Christian Religion a state religion that the leaders of the state sanctioned church went from being persecuted, by others, to persecuting all those that did not willingly believe, and submit, to the RCC doctrines.
For well over a thousand years, the Roman Catholic Church hunted down all that disagreed with them, called them "heretics" and had them killed by the secular rulers. I believe that some of these "heretics" were children of God who believed in Jesus but refused the doctrines advocated by the RCC but I can‘t prove it.
But the Roman Catholic Church was not alone. The protestant Churches that broke away persecuted those with other beliefs as well, and some also had people burned at the stake. Think about Calvin and his influence in the city of Geneva. His policy was not tolerant of the beliefs of others. Many people with different ideas, including Catholics, were put to death between 1542 and 1564. It is a fact that even on Christian forums there are those that are not tolerant of others that do not share their beliefs and if it were possible, they would have those that disagree with them burned at the stake.
Think about it, all through history religions have caused wars, suffering, and slavery. Even today we have a religion that causes some to kill for it. It is also true that many, on forums, practice character assassination and harassment towards those who do not believe the same as they do. It is the different doctrines, rituals, ceremonies, and the ideas on living life, that men have in religion that separate men today. In every nation where religion has controlled, or controls, the secular government there has been oppression and murdered in the name of religion. The framers of the USA Constitution took this into consideration when they separated, by law, religion from the secular government.
It should be noticed that all persecution of the Children of God has come from the religious sector. It was the religious leaders (Pharisees) that persecuted Jesus. It was religious Jews that stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7) and tried to kill Paul (Acts 21).
Today there are religious people trying to place people under religious governments. The problem is under whose interpretation of religion are we to live.
Religion is what man does for the god they have created in their own mind. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a religion. It is not about what man does for God but is about what God has done for man. It is God making a way for each, and everyone, of us to come back to Him and have a personal relationship with Him even though they are still sinful. God walked with man in the garden and wants to walk with man today. It is this relationship that God is interested in, not rituals and ceremonies that men do to look so religious.
But most do not want a close, honest, personal, relationship with God in their hearts. They prefer to have a relationship with an impersonal religion. Why, because they do not have to be honest with it. They can hide their deeds and thoughts.
John 3:19-20 (NKJ)
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Jesus is the light and everyone that comes to Him in a personal relationship must expose his or her deeds and thoughts to Him. Anyone can participate in an organized religion. Organized religion cannot see into the heart.
Even the Bible says that religion is not what we think it is:
Col 2:20-23 (NKJ)
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using-- according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
2 Cor 11:13-15 (NKJ)
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (NKJ)
Satan's goal is not to have you involved in overt sin and iniquity. Satan's goal is to have you appear righteous on the outside but spiritually dead on the inside. He wants you to be religious, but lost, just as the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:25-28)
Paul, a Jew among Jews, knowledgeable in the Jewish traditions and laws in religion, gave them all up and counted them as rubbish in order to gain Christ. He said nothing about religion because that is what he had given up.
Phil 3:8 (NKJ)
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
If you can see it, all the persecutions of true Christians has come from the religious. In this writing I am going to point out what I see in religions.
In the days of the Tower of Babble men made up religions based on their imaginations. Each religion had a leader who, with a supposed higher knowledge of God, lead the people. These leaders used this to control others.
When Constantine, a man who knew many false gods of the world's religions, organized the Christian church into a physical Church, and a state sanctioned church, he set it up like all of the other religions of the times. He was influenced by the Pagan Roman religions as well as the Jewish religion.
It was not long after Constantine made the Christian Religion a state religion that the leaders of the state sanctioned church went from being persecuted, by others, to persecuting all those that did not willingly believe, and submit, to the RCC doctrines.
For well over a thousand years, the Roman Catholic Church hunted down all that disagreed with them, called them "heretics" and had them killed by the secular rulers. I believe that some of these "heretics" were children of God who believed in Jesus but refused the doctrines advocated by the RCC but I can‘t prove it.
But the Roman Catholic Church was not alone. The protestant Churches that broke away persecuted those with other beliefs as well, and some also had people burned at the stake. Think about Calvin and his influence in the city of Geneva. His policy was not tolerant of the beliefs of others. Many people with different ideas, including Catholics, were put to death between 1542 and 1564. It is a fact that even on Christian forums there are those that are not tolerant of others that do not share their beliefs and if it were possible, they would have those that disagree with them burned at the stake.
Think about it, all through history religions have caused wars, suffering, and slavery. Even today we have a religion that causes some to kill for it. It is also true that many, on forums, practice character assassination and harassment towards those who do not believe the same as they do. It is the different doctrines, rituals, ceremonies, and the ideas on living life, that men have in religion that separate men today. In every nation where religion has controlled, or controls, the secular government there has been oppression and murdered in the name of religion. The framers of the USA Constitution took this into consideration when they separated, by law, religion from the secular government.
It should be noticed that all persecution of the Children of God has come from the religious sector. It was the religious leaders (Pharisees) that persecuted Jesus. It was religious Jews that stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7) and tried to kill Paul (Acts 21).
Today there are religious people trying to place people under religious governments. The problem is under whose interpretation of religion are we to live.
Religion is what man does for the god they have created in their own mind. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not a religion. It is not about what man does for God but is about what God has done for man. It is God making a way for each, and everyone, of us to come back to Him and have a personal relationship with Him even though they are still sinful. God walked with man in the garden and wants to walk with man today. It is this relationship that God is interested in, not rituals and ceremonies that men do to look so religious.
But most do not want a close, honest, personal, relationship with God in their hearts. They prefer to have a relationship with an impersonal religion. Why, because they do not have to be honest with it. They can hide their deeds and thoughts.
John 3:19-20 (NKJ)
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
Jesus is the light and everyone that comes to Him in a personal relationship must expose his or her deeds and thoughts to Him. Anyone can participate in an organized religion. Organized religion cannot see into the heart.
Even the Bible says that religion is not what we think it is:
Col 2:20-23 (NKJ)
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--
21 "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,"
22 which all concern things which perish with the using-- according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
2 Cor 11:13-15 (NKJ)
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (NKJ)
Satan's goal is not to have you involved in overt sin and iniquity. Satan's goal is to have you appear righteous on the outside but spiritually dead on the inside. He wants you to be religious, but lost, just as the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 23:25-28)
Paul, a Jew among Jews, knowledgeable in the Jewish traditions and laws in religion, gave them all up and counted them as rubbish in order to gain Christ. He said nothing about religion because that is what he had given up.
Phil 3:8 (NKJ)
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.