Christianity as a religion has its bases on the faith of the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated all over the world as he is believed to be the founder of this religion.
The celebrations are due to the belief that Jesus died for the sins of all men in the world so that they may regain the relationship between God and them, which was tainted after man engaged into sin. To Christians, the Holy Bible is a guide of what they should follow as it is believed to be a guide book to them as the writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Most religions have incorporate religious texts to guide them in the practices of the religions they follow. Judaism have Torah, Islam have Koran while Christianity have the Bible just to mention but a few. Through these books, guidance offered to the people as they are like a manual of the religion they believe in.
However, some of the texts that are used, for example in the bible, sometimes contradict themselves. Therefore, my perfect Christianity would not have such contradiction since at times they drive away some people who want to be followers of the religion (Fisher 304).
For me, a perfect Christianity would be the one that is inclusive of some of the major aspects of Christianity, but would also be incorporation of other symbols that are borrowed from other religions. The fact that there is the symbol of the cross as a reminder to Christians of the crucification of their savior is good enough.
The reasoning behind this is the fact that there needs to be a symbolic visible object, as sometimes followers of a certain religion cannot be forgetful of their religion especially due to the changing world and rise of other religions. The fact that the wine and the bread also denote the blood and the body of Christ is also a good expression, as well as a reminder of the Christ’s expectation of them.
However, my perfect Christianity would need the incorporation of more symbols as they get to stick in the mind more as some people do not always have time to read their Bibles. Islam uses the Qiblah as one of the main symbols. Though the symbol is one, it carries many meanings in it and it is like a summary of the symbols used in Islam (Senker, 6). I would therefore wish that Christianity had one symbol that comprises all their beliefs in it, instead of having many different symbols.
When it comes to rituals like offering of sacrifice, I would tend to stand by what the current Christianity stands with. Sacrificing of animals for God was a previously an action the past, the fact that this changed with the death of Jesus Christ for humanity sins, and changed the then existing ritual of having animal sacrifices is desirable of what I would consider a prefect Christianity.
The fact that the world economy is changing to an industrial one means that people do not rear animals that were intended for sacrifice. It would therefore be a problem in today’s society if such a ritual was still in existence, since some regions that practice Christianity have different economic activities different from agricultural aspects. However, some rituals like purification through baptism to me may not be necessary as some people do not hold meaning that they carry.
Some people tend to fail to act in the way that some of rituals describe of purification. It would therefore be wise if they were scraped off as part of the routine of Christianity and only be availed to those people who have convictions in their hearts that they want to undergo the rituals. Some of the sacraments are also done when children are too young, they therefore do not have knowledge of what they mean in their lives and depend on the witnesses who stand to testify on their behalf.
To me such a ritual where the one who is the main person involve in it is not in understanding of what is happening is not right. It would be better if the children that are involved in these rituals are of an age that they understand what is going on when they are involved in these rituals. Being involved in these rituals at such a time would mean that they would tend to act in a way the ritual requires.
Christians believe that morality to them was set by God. The Bible is therefore the guide of the morals that are set in place by God. Through it, Christians learn the morals that they should follow as instituted by God. The morality promoted by Christianity is deemed to be absolute by Christians.
However, I feel the morals that we should follow should be such that they change or evolve with changes with humanity and the universe in general. Humans are not in perfect understanding of the universe that God created. Every now and then there is evidence or discovery about the universe. It would be therefore fair to Christians that the morals keep on changing when new evidences come out since Christians may at times act in a way that it does not makes sense.
Though perfectly principles of morality may come from God, it is of importance that principles that come from humanity be given a chance to evolve due to changing times. Assumptions should also be included in formation of morality (Baker Para 2). The fact that not all things that are followed in Christianity are meaningful to them means that Christians should be given a chance to involve some assumptions in definition of morals since some parts of the guiding book which is the bible are contradicting.
A perfect Christianity for me should also be such that people are not forced to believe what is right. Most of Christians tend to belief more on faith other than wisdom and reasoning even where there are contradictions. It would therefore be wise to involve wisdom, faith and reasoning in definition of morality (Baker Para 3).
Christians have the obligation of loving God and also the obligation of learning the truth. The truth that is imposed in Christianity is such that one explore who he is, what is happening to himself and the faults he may have committed (Carrette &Foucault 182).
The meaning of this therefore is that no two individuals are likely to discover about themselves the same way since they are different. Since there is also the requirement that people get to reveal to others about their truths, some people truths are deemed not correct when they reveal them especially when they are contrary to the believes of Christianity.
A perfect Christianity to me would be the one that is able to accommodate the various truths people discover about themselves, whether it is desirable to others or not. It is obvious people have different understanding in reference to the obligations assigned to them and it acceptance of people truths should be applicable to all.
Just like any other religions, Christianity has super national beings. Presence of Angels is given in many episodes that are contained in the bible. They are described as very powerful beings that even have wings to fly around into various places. The angels are shown as servants of God and show up whenever God wants to spread a word or help out one of his servants.
Sometimes angels take the form of humans and are hard to recognize them in this form. Angels are therefore portrayed as powerful beings that are dreadful in nature and also have a lot of wisdom in them especially when it comes to events that take place in earth. Though these beings are said to have such extraordinary features they are fallible.
They are described at times striving against each other and it takes God intervention to make peace with them. In a perfect Christianity I would expect that such powerful beings would be reasonable enough due to their high wisdom and not get into their fellow angles nerves. The description of Jesus Christ as a powerful being is also a perfect indication of a perfect Christianity. The reasoning behind this is backed by the fact hat unlike the normal human beings who never came back to life after their death he overcome death and rose again.
A super national human to me would be able to do that and much more like even turning water into wine as Jesus did (Martin 99). God description as a super national being also meets my description of a perfect being; he is shown to be more powerful and is the only one who can solve the issues that may rise against powerful beings like angels.
Worship in Christianity means bowing down before God who is the creator of mankind and the universe. The nature of worship in Christianity takes two forms. The worship in truth and worship in the spirit. According to the bible worship in the spirit has little to do with our physical bodies and concentrates on the inner being that is our hearts. It is therefore only when the Holy Spirit recedes in us that we have the described worship. The Holy Spirit is the one that controls the worship of the spirit by glorifying himself as well as God.
The worship of the spirit requires that that the truth in our minds be reveled as Christians bodies are deemed as temples of worship. The worship of the truth requires also that it comes from the revelation contained in the word of God. Many emphases are laid to the word of God since it is said to contain some truth in it. Such a worship j would consider it the best that should be practiced as it does not entail showing of that some people do where else their hearts are not right with their actions (Hinnells 516).
Worship to a creator should include having a conviction in some one hearts but not actions that one does as the creator is able to seen the heart and judge according to how he sees it. There is therefore no reason of people establishing a show to others of how good they are while the same is not reflected in their hearts.
The primary teachings about Christianity are all about love and the faith that Christians should have on their creator. Christianity also emphasizes on scenario where someone’s heart is suppose to act as the guide to the persons consideration of what is right. However, this has transpired to some people making some decisions that are not contrary to the beliefs that are taught about by Christianity and defending their actions on the fact that to them appears right.
In turn, this has raised confusion of what should be followed. My perfect example of Christianity is where one first gets to lean the teachings about Christianity then resolving matters in tether lives based on the understanding of the teachings. It should therefore not appear to people that Christianity gives a go a head to people to do what they deem is right without the revelations in the biblical teachings.
The core of the teachings of Christian it is enjoying an eternal life that is coupled with no suffering. Christianity teaches that those people who do well in their lives will be repaid by eternal life while those wrong does have to pay for their actions.
I believer that there should be a price that is awarded top people who do well and the same should be extended to the wrong does. According to Christianity teaches, the wrong does will endure pain in hell while those who followed the right path will enjoy happiness in their life in heaven. However, my concerns are the fact that no one choose to be born in this world.
The fact that we all found ourselves existing in planet earth should mean that we should have a choice whether we should be subjected to such laws. Laws to govern a certain people should be decided by those people and are subject to amendments. It would therefore be fair if Christians were give a chance to change them whenever they feel that they axe not acting in their favor or they are oppressing them.
In the olden time the priests were the primary teachers of texts that were contained in the bible and were also interpreters of these texts. The priests were responsible of teaching about the righteousness that the bible teaches about. That responsibility is now taken over by pastors, reverends, and fathers who continued the responsibility of teaching about righteousness (Bockmuehl 49). However, the bible warns of teachers of the world who would come about who will talk about God and will not be the messengers of the truth.
My perfect Christianity model would be such that it would show to the Christians these teachers who do not stand for the truth. It is notable that the faith levels of the Christians differs and the weak ones mighty be taken advantage of by the wrong preachers of the word. It would therefore be fair for these preachers to bear a mark that is visible to each and every Christian so that they will not be misled by these teachers who are out to mislead them.
Almost all religions will be such that they have sacred sites that are important t their religion. Islam have Mecca, Buddhist have Bihar in India while Christians have Jerusalem.
The importance of Jerusalem to Christians is undeniable since they believe its the birth place of the Christ who was the beginner of this religion as well as crucification, death and resurrection. My perfect Christianity would borrow such routine that Islam has of having prayers in Jerusalem as it unifies the believers as one family as they get to share of the religion they believe in.
Christianity is one religion that has so many followers all over the world. Though not perfect, it has good teachings that would are useful for good coexistence between people. However, the above discussed solutions to some of the flaws it has would make it perfect to me.
Work Cited
Baker, Don. “Christianity’s “absolute morality” is neither absolute nor a good morality .” 2o January 2003. 05 May 2011 <http://www.christianitymeme.org/absolute.shtml>.
Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. “Revelation and mystery in ancient Judaism and Pauline Christianity.” Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990.
Fisher, Mary Pat. “Living religions: an encyclopedia of the world’s faiths.” London: I.B.Tauris , 1997.
Hinnells, John R. “The Routledge companion to the study of religion.” New york: Routledge , 2010.
Martin, Michael. “The Case Against Christianity.” Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993.
Michel Foucault, Jeremy R. Carrette. “Religion and culture.” Manchester: Manchester University Press ND, 1999.
Senker, Cath. “Islam: Signs, Symbols, and Stories.” New York: The Rosen Publishing Group , 2009.