Sometimes We Need to Return to the Basics

Next to me is a book that has been there for several years. I grab it now and again to look for things.  It is God is Not One: The Eight Major Religions That Run the World and Why Their Differences Matter by Professor Stephen Prothero. He approaches each of the world's eight major religions from the perspective of those in the pews, not from the view of their respective official theologies. He hears what people discuss with each other in the faiths. Each faith becomes what its followers think it is about, not what they might have been told it is about by church leaders. 

While Prothero tried to stay out of the weeds in each faith, in some of them he went so deep into the many factions I lost interest and skipped sections. Hinduism was one. I'm sure he tried to capture what Hindu people talk and worry about but it was lost on me.

I was pleased with his summary of the two religions around me and part of my life's experience. One is Judaism. He finds what practitioners of Judaism talk and worry about is rules. It's all about rules. I have relatives through marriage and friends who practice the faith to one degree or another and the first thing that comes up is rules. There are rules for so many things and one gets the impression a Jew is in good standing if he follows the rules.

Prothero's summary of Christianity was so powerful and blunt it jumped out at me. He writes simply, "It's about sin." When I saw that I thought, "That's it. That's what it is about. That's what people worry about, that's what they talk about."

This came back to me today as I read an essay in a Catholic publication written by lay people for lay people. The essay speculated on whether it is possible, or not possible, that hell is empty. Could it be, the author wondered, the threat of hell is so powerful those who sin beg for and receive a pass from hell? He goes into considerable detail speculating on whether the imaginary concept of is sends people to an imaginary place can be avoided by appealing to an imaginary deity. A rational person might think it is a waste of time to speculate about several competing forces all within the human imagination, wondering which imaginary force overrules the other. But to the Catholic theology student it merits long the thoughtful pondering. To save readers the trouble, I'll give you his conclusion: It is impossible hell will be empty.

The link was helpful, however, because is confirms what Stephen Prothero wrote: Sin is what Christianity is about. Whatever the topic at hand, followed to its core it is about sin. Heaven is a reward for begging forgiveness of sin. Hell is punishment for sin. People talk about it and worry over it. Preachers preach about it. All pray about sin. 

To understand something complex like Christianity, it's best to return to the basics.