Luther, in confronting the sixteenth century religionism of
Roman Catholicism, explained, “I have often said that to
speak and judge rightly in this matter we must carefully
distinguish between a pious (religious) man and a
Christian.” 1 The Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard,
was exposing the nineteenth century religionism of the state
church in Denmark in his work entitled Attack on
Christendom, wherein he noted that it is most difficult to
explain to someone who thinks that they are a Christian
already, what it means to be a Christian. 2 German
theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, stood up to the spineless
religionism of the German Lutheran Church during World
War II and was killed by the Nazis. In his Letters and
Papers from Prison he sets up the antinomy between faith
and religion and argues for a “nonreligious” or “religionless
Christianity.” 3
Perhaps the clearest delineation between “religion” and
Christianity is drawn by the Swiss theologian, Karl Barth,
arguably the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. In
his voluminous Church Dogmatics, Barth wrote that
“the revelation of God is the abolition of religion.” 4