tomorrow. It does not require God in Christ for the
“Christian religion” to function; just man and money!
Genuine Christianity, on the other hand, requires the
presence and function of the life and person of the living
Lord Jesus. Christianity is Christ! Jesus Christ is not just
the historical founder of a “Christian religion”; rather He is
the vital spiritual essence of Christianity that is His
dynamic ontological function within receptive humanity.
Another hypothetical question might be asked: “If you
could take Christ out of Christianity, what would be left?”
Again it is possible to answer, “Nothing!” Or it is possible
that we might explain that the resultant spiritual vacuum is
what we know as the “Christian religion.” It has been
suggested that if you take Christ out of Christianity, all you
have left is the self-oriented, self-perpetuating religion of “-
I-anity,” which is an inanity.
South African author, Albert Nolan, explains that
“Jesus cannot be fully identified with that great religious
phenomenon of the Western world known as Christianity
(Christian religion). He was much more than the founder of one of
the world’s great religions. He stands above Christianity (Christian
religion) as the judge of all it has done in His name.” 23
(parentheses added)The “Christian religion” is a misnomer. Christianity is
not religion! It is so radically different from all religion that