Author Eric Shuster will be providing a series of blog posts summarizing various sections of his upcoming book Where are the Christians? due to be released this spring from Cedar Fort, Inc. We will feature one post each week from now until May 2013. For more information visit www.findyourchristianity.com.

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SECTION 2: WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?—a Definition

Chapter 5: It’s Confusing According to the World

Now that we know who the Christians were historically we will now turn our attention to what a Christian is in our present day. If you think it is an easy task to define a Christian, think again—there are hundreds of definitions of a Christian that have been generated by people and institutions over the centuries. Not all of them can be right as the variations are sometimes mind numbing.

In this chapter author Eric Shuster researches the definitions of a Christian offered by respected secular publications, religious organizations, America’s ten largest Christian Churches and the internet at large— the world’s view if you will. The result is a convoluted set of definitions with little commonality and plenty of confusion.

First are the definitions offered by two widely known secular publications: Webster’s Dictionary and Encyclopedia Britannica. Webster’s suggests a Christian is anyone who claims a belief in Jesus Christ. Encyclopedia Britannica suggests a Christian is a person who aligns themselves with the traditions, cultures, and precepts of Christianity.

Next are the definitions offered by the world’s largest religious organizations including the National Council of Churches, World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance, American Council of Christian Churches, National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and the Council on Christian Unity. Half of these organizations focus their definitions of a Christian on faith in Jesus Christ, the love of God, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the Bible being the word of God. The other half offer similar statements of faith; however, each includes an implied requirement of Trinitarian belief as a qualification to be a Christian.

Next are the definitions offered by America’s ten largest Christian Churches defined as those considered Christian by the World Christian Encyclopedia and included in the 2012 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches published by the National Council of Churches. Each church was contacted and publicly available content examined. The result of the exercise demonstrated further confusion in trying to nail down a useful definition of a Christian. The variations were breathtaking.

Finally a comprehensive search was conducted via the internet for the definitions of a Christian provided by apologetics, religious leaders, and various institutions. As one might suspect the definitions of a Christian offered were widely different with only snippets of commonality.

The result of Shuster’s research revealed five different definitions of a Christian to be considered: 1) a Christian is one who believes they are a Christian; 2) a Christian is one who believes in and follows Jesus Christ; 3) a Christian is one who embraces a particular set of beliefs; 4) a Christian is one who is born again; and 5) a Christian is one who is a member of a particular church.

These five definitions are a leading indicator of the confusion in today’s world in defining a Christian. With the world in confusion in defining a Christian Shuster turns to a more native and reliable source to gain understanding—the Bible.

Go to www.findyourchristianity.com to watch the book trailer, find out what type of Christian you are, and to order the book.

Author Eric Shuster will be providing a series of blog posts summarizing various sections of his upcoming book Where are the Christians? due to be released this spring from Cedar Fort, Inc. We will feature one post each week from now until May 2013. For more information visit www.findyourchristianity.com.

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SECTION 1: WHO ARE THE CHRISTIANS?—a History

Chapter 4: They were Reformed and Scattered (1500 to the Present)

The final segment of Christian history covers the year1500 to the present and is called the Reform and Denominational Proliferation period. During this period individuals came forward to challenge the established Christian Church to reform itself from corruption. When reform did not go far enough more schisms took place leading to the formation of the 33,820 Christian denominations we have today (World Christian Encyclopedia).

This period is marked by five major activities including the carryover of corruption, the emergence of refiners, reformers and restorers, Christian movements and influencers, the propagation of published scripture and the proliferation of denominations.

The corruption of the former period continued in ongoing nepotism, immorality, greed, and arrogance. Alexander VI, perhaps the most corrupt pope in history prolonged his crooked reign with more appointments of cardinals for money, arrangements of marriages of his children for financial gain, and the famous Banquet of Chestnuts in 1501 where the pontiff hosted prostitutes for sex on display among his guests. These acts of corruption were not isolated to Catholicism alone.

Exhausted by the state of affairs there came forward three types of individuals calling for an end of church corruption: Refiners—those who sought to change the Church from within (e.g. Saint Francis of Assisi); Reformers—those who sought to change the Church through public debate and open accusation (e.g. Luther, Calvin, Tyndale, Wesley, etc.); and Restorers—those who believed the corruption of the established Christian Churches and its doctrinal base had become so contaminated that a complete restoration to that of the original Church of Jesus Christ was necessary (e.g. Campbell, Stone, Smith, Russell, etc.).

Movements marking this period included the First and Second Great Awakenings in the Americas along with other movements such as the Charismatic, Evangelicalism, Free Grace, Holiness, Methodism, and Pentecostalism. These movements, along with the Protestant Reformation, could not have succeeded without the establishment and availability of the scriptures into local languages—a dynamic that has led to there being 92 translations of the Bible into English alone.

All of this activity led to the explosion of Christian denominations from one in Roman Catholicism around AD 1000 to nearly 34,000 ten centuries later. The World Christian Encyclopedia categorizes the sects of Christianity today into seven segments: 1) Orthodox, 2) Roman Catholic, 3) Catholics (Reformed Catholics, New Apostolic, etc.), 4) Anglicans, 5) Protestants (Lutherans, Methodists, etc.), 6) Marginal Protestants (Unitarians, LDS/ Mormons, etc.), and 7) Non-White Indigenous Christians. The stories and motives behind this proliferation are critical to understanding Christianity today and are covered by the author.

Modern-day Christians are influenced by the past and are products of their own history. It is a history that produced the best and worst of humanity over a 2,000 year period. Our faith walk today is affected by and reflects these four periods of Christian history. Having a better understanding of where we came from as a Christian people we are now ready for the next leg of our journey taking on the question: “What is a Christian?”

Go to www.findyourchristianity.com to watch the book trailer, find out what type of Christian you are, and to order the book.

Author Eric Shuster will be providing a series of blog posts summarizing various sections of his upcoming book Where are the Christians? due to be released this spring from Cedar Fort, Inc. We will feature one post each week from now until May 2013. For more information visit www.findyourchristianity.com.

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SECTION 1: WHO ARE THE CHRISTIANS?—a History

Chapter 3: They were Corrupted and Divided (1000-1499)

As the Christian Church neared the millennial landmark it began to be faced with significant issues of leadership that would rupture its unity. Although Christianity was still spreading throughout the world, the organization of the Church would be challenged by its integration with the political structure and an increasingly corrupt leadership. The Corruption and Division period (1000-1499) is marked by four major categories of events and activities including doctrinal evolution, church and state integration, corruption and division.

Although the key doctrines of Christianity had been defined and codified earlier, peripheral doctrines such as the seven sacraments and the concept of Papal infallibility were introduced during this 500 year period.

Organizationally it was common during this era for Church leaders to be appointed by government leaders. For example, in 1049 the Emperor Henry III appointed Leo IX as the Pope. Although this practice eventually ended there was still considerable influence from the government on Church affairs leading to calls for increased separation of church and state.

Church corruption was in full bloom during this period including rampant nepotism. Pope Callixtus III (1455-58) appointed two of his nephews cardinals, one of which (Rodrigo) later became Pope Alexander VI. In turn, Alexander promoted his alleged mistress’s brother, Alessandro Farnese, to cardinal with Farnese later becoming Pope Paul III. Immorality in Church leadership also reared its ugly head. Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) was said to have several mistresses and fathered illegitimate children while creatively depleting the treasury. Pope Paul II (1464-1471) and Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) were both accused of grave immorality during their papal reigns including homosexuality. These acts of corruption were joined by widespread indulgences—purchasing with money or acts of services the ability to forego the consequences of sin (repentance for sale).

Those who opposed the Church during this period were subject to harsh punishment including torture and death. In 1141 Pierre Abelard, a philosopher, was condemned as a heretic for his views on the Trinity and an illicit relationship with a French nun. In 1415 at the Council of Constance John Wycliffe was declared a heretic for his translation of the Bible into English. The Crusades during this period shed additional light on how Christianity at the time was seen as a spiritual, political and military power—a lethal combination that distracted the Church from its main purpose.

Theological and political strife within the Church eventually led to division during this period. The first was the Great Schism of 1054 dividing the Church into what would eventually be known as the Eastern Orthodox Church (Greek) and the Roman Catholic Church (Latin). The second came in 1378, often referred to as the Great Western Schism, whereby the Catholic Church experienced a split within itself. These divisions would continue into the next period of Christianity.

By 1499 there was more than one faction of the Christian Church in operation. Christianity was plagued with theological disagreements, continued power struggles, large scale corruption, and political and societal unrest. It was time for reform.

Go to www.findyourchristianity.com to watch the book trailer, find out what type of Christian you are, and to order the book.