Return to the Basics: What is Christianity


In his book, "God is Not One " Professor Stephan Prothero presented a simple but profound question. Is the faith about what denomination officials claim it to be, what its seminaries teach it to be or what those in the pews think it is? The last one is most always different than the first two. He thinks the last one is most important and the book is about what religious people in the pews think their respective faiths are about. For Christianity, he says the faith is about one topic, sin. That is, the people in the pews talk about and worry about sin more than any other topic. This seems especially important to me, an economist, because people are buying the church membership and expect to get what they value. Prothero says they value worry about sin.

What people talk about and worry about are the religious issues that find their way into local, state and federal legislation. Sin brings passion. Elected people respond to passion. Theological hair splitting is not addressed in legislation.  Back when this blog appeared in many papers the discussion in comments was constant and several people said Prothero was wrong. The most important thing in the Bible was forgiveness of sins, they said, not condemnation of sin. This hair splitting is lost on those in the pews. 

Today I read a piece by another high-minded fellow who said both the Christian right, with its obsession with gender and the left, with its obsession with poverty and justice, are wrong. Instead, Mr., Highminded went off on hair splitting over what he thinks are the bigger theological issues. 

I wish Mr. Highminded luck trying to get folks in the pews to stop worrying about their salvation in the afterlife. They were sold the faith with this good deal. They don't have to die. Sin puts this at risk. They are more certain sin sends them to hell than there are about the egotistical Jesus who claimed he was so powerful he could expunge records of sin. Many of those in the pews seem doubtful about that.

For some reason, thousands of people make a living splitting hairs about theology. The entire industry is made not relevant by whatever those in the pews believe.

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