SIXTH PART

Christianity

Christianity developed to become the largest religion of the planet, due, mainly, to three factors:

First - Judaism, the first formal monotheist religion, for being exclusively linked to a single people, didn't have, before the diaspora of the Jews, the possibility to expand besides the borders of the ancient Palestine and, even after the Jews had spread throughout the earth, Judaism continued being an exclusive religion of that people, perhaps because it is much more than a religion; it is a kind of culture, a way of living, a tradition and, today, with the creation of the State of Israel, an expressive component of the geopolitical determinism in the Middle East. But, in terms of an universal theology, it didn't go far.

In Jesus’ epoch, the Hebrews inhabited a province of the powerful Roman Empire, but, in consonance with the ‘Pax Romana's policy, they conserved the right to maintain the faith and Jewish cults, since they be exercised with moderation and did not interfere with the conquerors laws and procedures. Thus, when Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist began to preach new ideas, speaking openly about a ‘Reign of Heaven ', that was to come soon, this worried the Jewish political and religious leaders. They became afraid to lose prestige to a new religious doctrine and fearful that this "rebellious" movement could inflame the people against the Roman authority, thus unchaining a reprisal from Rome.

So, they decided for the elimination of those two leaders, convinced that, with their death, the new ideas would also disappear. But, after the murder of the two cousins, the small numbers of Jesus’ followers continued to spread their Master’s messages, gainig new adepts among the Jews. What assured the initial survival of an incipient Christianity.

However, as they were restricted in their activities by the borders of the province, Christianity was bound to remain just a small dissident Jewish sect, which, with the running of time and the apostles' death, would tend to extinguish. But, then, the second factor occurred...

Second - Long before the apostles died and the Christian fire turned off, Saul, a Jew owing Roman citizenship and an ardent persecutor of the members of the new sect, falls from his horse in the road to Damascus, all of a sudden ‘hears’ Jesus’s voice and is immediately converted.

The entrance in the religious scenery of this intelligent and tenacious man, would change, entirely, the destiny of the incipient Christianity. Because Saul, now apostle Paul, moves with determination to diffuse the Christian ideas among the heathens, traveling to Minor Asia, Arabia and Greece. In this missionary adventure, Paul creates religious nuclei and establishes the doctrinaire bases of a new Church, even before the four traditional evangelist engrave, in the New Testament, the words and deeds of Jesus.

Christianity, as a Church, is considered as being born in the day of Pentecost, in the year 30 (or 33, or 36) of our era and, in 43 a.D., Peter becomes its first pontiff. A pope deprived of a throne, living, like the other active followers of the new religion, in secrecy, pursued by the Romans. For more than two centuries, the now members of the Roman Apostolic Catholic Church, although already dispersed throughout almost all the corners of that epoch’s world, continued ‘submerged’ and hunted, until the occurrence of the third factor.

Third - In the year 323 Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity and in 390 Emperor Theodesius proclaims the Catholic Church as the official religion of the Empire. Since then, it would remain powerful and united, until the year 1054, when the Church separated into two: the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox.

Finally, with the Protestant Reform, in the XVIth century, the Church fragments into countless churches, divergent in many aspects, but united around a doctrine based on three orthodox dogmas: 1 - Mary was inseminated by a mystic and divine character. 2 - Jesus resurrected. physically. 3 - Man’s salvation can only be obtained by the idolatry and absolute submission to God and to a divine Jesus Christ.

Let us elaborate on each of these dogmas.

On (1) - Jesus is the human expression of God, in the condition of a divine son, generated through the insemination of a virgin, Mary, by the Holy Ghost. In this regard, the evangelist Matthew confuses the mind of the reader when treating on the subject of Jesus' genealogy: In order to accomplish the prophecies of the Old Testament (Isaiah,9,6 / Ezekiel,34,23), the Messiah should be of the house of David and Matthew traces Jesus' origins to that prophet, through Joseph. But, at the same time, the evangelist affirms that the father of the child to be born was not, actually, the carpenter, but the Holy Ghost.

Then, at least, from a genetic point of view, Jesus could not be a descendant of David, thus failing to fulfill the prophecies.

But the confusion would have been avoid if the evangelist had considered Jesus' maternal side. Yes, because, according to some theologians, Mary was of the Tribe of Judah and, through her father, Heli, also a descendant of Davi.

Luke took the road of Jesus' maternal lineage. However, he omitted Mary's name, not for mistake but for cultural prejudice. On those times, when a genealogical study was carried out, if, in the sequence, there was a married woman, her name was substituted by that of her husband. Thus, Luke instead of writing: " Jesus, son of Mary, daughter of Heli, son of... .etc...". wrote : Jesus, son of Joseph, son of Heli, son of " ...etc. (Luke,3,23-38), excluding the name ‘Mary’ from the sequence.

On (2) - Jesus dies in the cross, but, on the third day, he rises from the valley of death and comes back, in flesh and bone, to confirm his divine condition as son of God.

Comments about (1) and (2)

Both constitute outstanding exceptions of natural laws, which dictates that a human being results from the union of a male spermatozoid with the ovum of a female and that, after the death of that being, his body remains forever dead.

Therefore, these dogmas can only be accepted within the context of an absolutely blind faith. As a miracle. Something debatable, but that we, personally, do not believe.

The role of the Holy Ghost in fecundating Mary’s ovum is an idea that appeared late in the Christian mythology and is in discredit among the majority of today’s theologians.

As far as the resurrection is concerned, we believe the disciples went through an spiritual experience, characterized by visual ‘flashes’.

To "see’ the Master, represented to those men, impregnated of mysticism, a light of hope, a sort of expiation and, also, a kind of psychological therapy against the depression and demoralization they were going through. Not only due to the horrible crucification of their idol, but, mainly, because of the guilt they were feeling for having abandoned Jesus after his prison.

Many modern Christian scholars have similar interpretations. Piero Martinetti, for example, says the following: "We can not doubt that the disciples have experienced "visons" of Jesus, after his death; without them, how could one explain the sudden hope and enthusiasm developed by the first Christian communities?"

The disciples’ mistake was to consider those visual signals as a physical phenomenon, when, in reality, they signified experiences of a pure spiritual nature.

On (3) - The human being is born with the mark of the original sin, therefore impure, since the punishment imposed to Adam and Eva is extensive to all their descendants, until the end of time. Thus, no matter your merits and virtues, they won't grant you the right to salvation, which will only be obtained by a total and unconditional idolatry to God and Jesus Christ.

Comments about (3)

The Gospels are quite contradictory on this dogma . Let us see:

If we take, for instance, the sentence attributed to Jesus by the evangelist John: " I affirm that, who hears my words and has faith in the One that sent me down here, will be granted eternal life and won't be judged, since he has passed from death to life " (John,5,24), it seems to match the dogma.

However, when we take into account the Parable of the good Samaritan (Luke,10) or the Sermon of the Mountain (Matthew 5-7), then the dogma looks deprived of significance, since, in those passages, Jesus clearly insinuates that the Kingdom of Heaven - and, therefore, salvation - can be reached by the virtues practiced by man, particularly charity and unconditional love.

Thus, it is our understanding that Christianity (and, probably, also all the other religions) is based upon absolute mythological propositions. Its historical survival can only be understood by the strange compulsion of man to allow himself to be carried out by illusion and superstition. What is absolutely unnecessary, since Jesus, the man, for the magnitude of his message and through his unique spirituality, has every condition to be the backbone of any religion or theological philosophy.

The Renewed Churches

They have such participation in the life of Christians that cannot scape from the sieve of our investigation. To try to understand what they are and what they do, as well as to analyze their eventual merits and demerits, are fundamental obligations for those who are in search of the truth.

In Europe and in the United States, at the end of the nineteenth century, Catholicism and Protestantism began to decline. Perhaps due to the influence of atheistic concepts, originating from the recent popularization of the Marxist doctrine through the Communist Manifest. Or perhaps because people started to realize that the ecclesiastical elites did not really care about popular aspirations, which desired more than the usual promises of an abstract celestial paradise. They were starting to demand, if not a terrestrial paradise, at least a more dignified existence, here, on Earth.

That was when the Protestant leaders realized the imperative need to renew, in order to recover the faithful followers,and to have, again, their churches packed and their safes loaded. This renovation started at a theological level, through the valorization of the Holy Ghost, that mysterious entity, in charge of executing God’s purposes.

And the Holy Ghost began to be praised and idolized, since it became the shortest way to miraculous cures and salvation. The praises brought with them exalted chants and "hot" music. What, immediately, seduced the black communities in the southern regions of the United States, which are ethnically and culturally predisposed to this type of ritual. And this new religious practice rapidly spread to the Occident as a whole.

It was the beginning of the Protestant "Renovation", soon to get mixed up with the so-called Pentecostalism. Actually, two expressions meaning the same thing: the cult of the Bible and the Holy Ghost.

It did not take long for "renovation" to become some kind of magic. Singing, dancing and jumping, the faithful forgot their frustations and, what was even more important, as such activities liberate, in the brain, an euphoric substance called beta-endorphin, they felt themselves in a "light" and gay "state of grace". All that due to the presence of the Holy Ghost...naturally!

It is even possible that, if this entity really exists, maybe that endorphin could be its neurochemical expression. Or perhaps, the liberation of that substance would open a communication channel for that strange force. Practically, it does not matter if it happens one way or the other.What matters is that the faithful enters into an euphoric state, some even approaching the edge of delirium. And they feel happy, at least, temporarily.

What might create a certain kind of dependence. Which, if properly channeled, can be quite useful. If unproperly, it may open the doors to fanaticism and exploration. Like everything in life, the merit and the demerit are not linked to the fact itself, but to the character and intention of the ones that are responsible for it.

With that new liturgy, the Holy Ghost grew in strenght and, in its name, a countless number of Protestant ‘bishops’ and ‘pastors’, self denominated "renewed " or "Pentecostal ", started to stimulate processes of ‘healing’, not only of spiritual nature, but also of physical and mental diseases.

It was the beginning of Protestant quackery, that, in the twentieth century, would attract, to those Pentecostal or renewed churches, legions or suffers or pseudo sufferes, avid to be cured of their real or imaginary ailments, by God’s grace, granted through the Holy Ghost.

And realizing the immense perspectives of such new movement, many Protestant bishops, pastors and presbyters (some recently converted from umbanda or candomblé - Afro-Brazilian cults) began to "open" churches, indiscriminately, everywhere and under several denominations. As long as the adopted name displayed the words "renewed" or "Pentecostal", or, in some way, insinuated the presence of an active Holy Ghost, a promise of wonderful blessings and miraculous cures.

The dissemination of Pentecostal churches is some thing to worry about, because of the way it is being done.

In Brazil, for instance, if a person decides to "own" a ‘church’, he simply gathers a group of followers, rents or buys a property, writes down a "regulation" and registers the new "church" at a National Cadaster and at the Commercial Committee. And that’s it! Without any other requirements. There are no laws to forbid him of doing so. He is protected by the shield of ‘freedom of religion’, To open a Protestant "renewed" or "Pentecostal ‘church" is much easier than opening a night club or a drug store.

No theological knowledge is necessary. The person just starts calling himself ‘pastor’ and begins his ‘clerical activities’ that include the well known rituals: some appropriate biblical citations, the usual praises, a good musical background (the more strident, the better) and the inevitable procedures of spiritual salvation and of physical and mental healings. And, of course, the recruitment of credulous followers, ready to give money to "God" and to the "church".

Perhaps the main reason for this disgusting situation is the absence of an hierachic command in the Protestant branch of Christianity. While all Catholic churches are controled by the Vatican, there are several traditional Protestant churches and a immense number of Pentecostal and renewed congregations. In theory, there is a "Counsil of Pastors", but, in practice, it does not exert any power. Each ‘church’ acts as it pleases.The lack of an unit, of a centralized authority, hinders the ethical and theological control.

At the beginning, the Catholic Church strongly resisted to renew according to the Protestant style. It even tried other ways to approach the masses.. The most significant one, that found enormous receptivity among the Latin American clergy, was the Theology of Liberation, with its slogan: "option for the poor ", exercising its praxis through the so-called Basic Eclesiatic Communities. This Theology obtained some success in the rural areas, but it didn't penetrate, efficiently, in the great centers, where the traditional and conservative Catholic oligarchy refused to accept it.

On the other hand, the priests and bishops engaged in this Theology began to approach the adepts of marxism and those communities became more political than religious. Perhaps that was inevitable, mainly in Latin America and in Africa, where the option for the poor demanded a socialist approach, that, sometimes, got entangled with the Marxist philosophy.

Perhaps for fearing the "marxization" of that Theology, or because the Vatican couldn’t get rid of its old "Theology of Domination", the Roman curia, through cardinal Ratzinger, mayor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dismantled the Theology of Liberation, which, today, is no more than a historical reference.

However, especially in Latin America, an enormous dispersion of Catholics was continuing. Mainly among youths, alcoholics and drug addicts. All moving towards the Pentecostal or renewed churches, seduced by their allegorical rituals and by the promises of miraculous cures and a happier way of living, through Jesus and the Holy Ghost.

Then, the Vatican woke up to reality and gave in. The so-called Catholic Charismatic Renewal was reactivated " to evangelize ". Its cults, in the churches and in the media, became almost perfect copies of the Pentecostal rituals, with many songs and praises, non sacred music and practices of exorcism.

Almost perfect, because the priests (as well as the traditional Protestant pastors) did not know how to carry out the strident and euphoric rituals performed by evangelic pentecostal pastors. For the Catholic clergy, to transform "samba in the feet" into "samba in the faith" is a very difficult task.

Even the most advanced sections of the Catholic church showed a certain reservation in relation to the conduction of the renovating process, as it can be inferred from the phrase utterd by D. Pedro Casaldáliga, a bishop of the progressive current of the clergy: "Liturgy is not show"

The Roman Church has a secular tradition in the practice of exorcism. But they constitute individualized procedures, in which the instruments used to remove the "demoniac" spirits are prayers, the crucifix and holy water.

But Catholic priests, unlike the evangelical ‘curators’, do not engage in a "hand to hand" combat with the "demons" supposedly imbeded in the bodies of their victims.

In spite of that pragmatic indecision, and thanks to the charisma of some priest-singers, in the last five years, thousands of people converted to the Catholic credo. But not in enough numbers to compensate the progressive increase of evangelical followers.

Is Christianity the Only Road to Salvation?

If that question had been asked between the fourth and sixteenth centuries, when only Europe really counted and it was assumed (what we don't believe) that man's salvation can only be obtained through a structured religion, perhaps the answer would have been a dubious and constrained yes.

But after a better knowledge of the great religions that, for thousand of years, exist in India, China and Japan, the recognition that the followers of Islam retain their strong faith, even after the disappearance of Mohammed, and that thoudand of African tribes practice, with fervor, pantheist cults, the answer can only be a categorical no!

Let us see why: the number of Christians badly surpasses the figure of 1 billion, to a total of 6 billion human beings. Therefore, 5/6 of the world population are non-Christian. And, in spite of the missionary efforts undertaken by all factions and sects of Christianity, the amount of possible "converted" will be an insignificance before the number of humans that, throughout the planet, continue entrusting their current credos, plus the number of those that don't follow any structured religion.

And, considering the ideology (which we believe) that all men are equal before God, then, Christians, Jews, Islamics, Buddhists, Hinduists, Shintoists, Animists, Pantheists and even Atheists, will be judged by the Lord, according to a same criterion.

And this criterion keeps no relation with the kind of credo one belongs to, but with the way each human being acts in life. Honesty, charity, solidarity, justice and love, must be, to the eyes of God, the reference values for salvation.

Therefore, any theology which sustains that salvation is an exclusive privilege of people that idolize the Almight through Jesus Christ, is a theology that qualifies God as unjust to mankind as a whole. Thus, an unsustainable and unacceptable theology. And whoever insists on its defense, is perpetrating the greatest heresy of history.