There is a certain church that I pass on my way home from work every day. Like most churches, this church has a sign out by the road. I have already expressed my extreme frustration with church signs elsewhere, so it should come as no surprise that I am always keeping my eyes open for the latest and greatest "saying" adorning local signs. The particular church has had this message up for the last several weeks: "Christianity is not a religion." Below this, the sign instructs readers to read John 3:16-17 to find out why.
Being quite familiar with John 3:16-17, I was a bit puzzled as to why these two verses from the Gospel of John prove that Christianity is not a religion. While I am certainly aware of what the church is trying to say with its sign-message (viz., Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with Jesus), I am confused as to how John 3:16-17 proves its point. If anything, these verses reinforce the fact that Christianity IS a religion. Christianity cannot be proven empirically, i.e. by using the scientific method or our five senses. When Thomas claimed that he would not believe that Jesus actually rose from the grave unless he could see and feel where the crucifixion nails had been (John 20:24-29), he was making an empirical demand. Thomas wanted proof that Jesus was alive; the testimony of the other disciples was not enough for him. When Jesus appears and grants Thomas his empirical proof, Thomas exclaims, "My Lord and my God." Jesus' response is as chilling as it is brief: "Because you have seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed."
Earlier in his Gospel, John tells of a similar event transpiring between Jesus and Nathanael. Having already become a follower of Jesus, Philip goes to Nathanael and tells him that he has found the Messiah—"Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote" (John 1:45). Nathanael is skeptical so Philip invites him to "come and see." When Jesus tells Nathanael that He saw him "under the fig tree," before Philip called him, Nathanael believes and exclaims: "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." In much the same way as He responded to Thomas, Jesus answers: "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these" (John 1:50). Thomas and Nathanael both "saw and believed," but Jesus questions each man's empirically-based belief. While our modern society tells us that "seeing is believing," Jesus tells us that "believing is seeing." He chides both Nathanael and Thomas for having such a shallow view of believing; one believes because Jesus tells him that he was under a tree and the other because he was able to touch Jesus' nail-scarred hands. Jesus knows that belief that is so easily attained is also easily lost. He warns Nathanael and Thomas that a faith of seeing—of empirical verification—is really not a faith at all and can easily miss the greater blessing that awaits them...
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