What being a Christian means, in simple terms - Part 1

What the initial followers of Jesus thought and did

I received an e-mail, saying: "I need a one page summary of what is Christianity." And my answer was: "I'd rather say in one line. Christianity is to serve God according to the gospel of Jesus. You may amplify it ten or ten thousand times, but that is the essence; the rest are interpretations."

So, after receiving that e-mail, I decided to write again one page, or pages, to say what it means to be a Christian to me. It came out to be longer than I expected, but I feel that all my comments are relevant and deserve consideration.

Christianity is an abstract concept. The fundamental starting point is, of course, to believe that Jesus is still alive, and not just a philosopher or preacher of two thousand years ago. This belief is an act of faith, since the fact of a living Jesus can not be proven.

The discipleship of Jesus

The discipleship of Jesus, which is to be a Christian, is not, certainly, the complicated thing that twenty centuries of Christian tradition have made of it. It was something simple, easy, and clear at the beginning of Jesus' movement; unfortunately tradition has obscured it.

A Catholic priest needs four years to learn theology, the science of God; two more to get a License; and two more for the Doctorate! Today this seems ridiculous to me.

More in the book

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