his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James
1:26,27). The Greek word that he uses is threskeia,
meaning “worship or religion.” Misrepresentation of the
character of God in our behavior often indicates that we are
engaging in “worthless religion.” James continues, though,
to use threskeia in a positive way when he refers to “pure
and undefiled religion” (James 1:27), wherein the worth-
ship of God’s character is genuinely expressed in practical
ministry to orphans and widows, and in the expression of
the purity of God’s character. In that case genuine Christian
worship transpires as we are receptive to the activity of
God and express the worth-ship of His character in our
behavior.
In light of the predominantly negative inferences of the
word “religion” in the New Testament, we should avoid
applying this word to Christianity.
Christianity and “world religions”Failure to differentiate between Christianity and
“religion” has caused many to lump Christianity together as
just another “religion” in the study of comparative world
religions. Their criteria for the consideration of a “religion”
is merely sociological, psychological, creedal, liturgical or