So You're a Christian...That Means You're Catholic Right?

The Christian faith, Christianity has not been able to agree on the principles of the Bible even before the term Christianity was created. Because of the numerous Christian denominations and doctrines exist many believers and non believers of the Christian faith hold misconceptions about it. I will provide three of the common misconceptions about Christianity that I encounter along with answers to them I have found from my study of the Bible and the Christian faith.

So You're Christian ... That Means You're Catholic Right?

People, organizations, groups, you name it are often under this assumption. Most of the time when I list my religious affiliation I have to pick "Christian - Other" because many forms have Christianity listed as Catholicism. Catholics are Christians this is true but so are Protestants, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptist and many more institutions that believe in Jesus the Christ.

The fundamentals of Christianity are that:

Jesus is the son of God - John 1:14

He was conceived via God's Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary - Luke 1:26-38

Jesus died as atonement for the sins of man (died for our sins) - I Cor. 15:3; Hebrews 9:15; I Peter 3:18

On the third day after his death He rose from the grave. - Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20

From there it gets muddled. Each branch of Christianity has a different view of what being a Christian is and how scripture is to be interpreted. The fundamentals may include many more items based upon denomination or doctrine; however these four seem to be what a majority of the Christian churches agree on.

When a Christian Dies They Go to Heaven and non-Christians Go to Hell.

This misconception of the Christian faith occurs a lot. First and foremost one must understand that before Jesus' resurrection the idea of "Christian" did not exist. The prophets and other righteous people of the Old Testament were not followers of Jesus but were faithful to God. These people, Moses, David, Job, Isaiah, etc. did not go to hell. They went to a place called Sheol.

In the Old Testament, the place where the body is buried is referred to as the grave, the place where the soul or spirit resided is a place called Sheol in Hebrew or Hades (the New Testament) in Greek. Sheol and Hades basically mean "the place of the dead" (Gen. 37:35; Isa. 38:10). Unfortunately, mistranslations of these words have made them synonymous with hell and the grave. Before the resurrection of Jesus both the righteous and unrighteous resided in Sheol. When Scripture is examined the true hell is a future place that holds no human soul yet. Hell is also known as the fiery pit or lake of fire, which is where Hades (and its occupants) are sent in the final book of the Bible, The Revelation of John or Revelation.

Heaven is the place where God resides, Paradise, a section of heaven is where the righteous are. Jesus made this distinction before his death and resurrection. Once in his telling of the story about the rich man and Lazarus and last when he was hanging on the cross. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus told of these two men and detailed their character, the rich man was not a good man but Lazarus was. Both men died, yet Lazarus went into what was called "Abraham's Bosom" while the rich man was on the side of what is referred to as a chasm that separated the two sides of Sheol (Luke 16: 19-31). During Jesus' crucifixion the name of Abraham's Bosom is revealed to be a place called Paradise (Luke 23: 32-43).

It is believed that when Jesus was resurrected he took Paradise with him up to heaven, thus setting the captives in Sheol or Hades free (Eph 4:8-10 and II Cor. 12: 3-4). At the same time that left only the unrighteous, the lost, in Sheol and this is perhaps where the misconstrued use of the word hell came into play. So the belief that when the righteous die they enter into heaven is partly true, for they do enter into a part of heaven.

There are varying opinions about Sheol, Hades, the grave, hell, heaven, paradise and the lake of fire. However, a study of scripture along with concordances and other study aids to help define certain terms will show the distinctions between these places. The bottom line is that both heaven and hell exist for the Christian and they are destinations a soul can go to.

Christians are Intolerant of People of Other Faiths and Lifestyles.

Many non believers have this misconception and sadly Christians in the media support this misconception. To be intolerant of any human, not showing them love and compassion breaks the command Jesus gave all. Jesus taught that it is the sin we are not to tolerate, not the person. It is the same as if you have a friend or relative who does drugs and you do not like their drug use. You still love them and will be there for them, but you would not tolerate their drug use in your home. If you went to their home, you would not stay around while they used their drugs in front you. This is where some Christians miss the mark of the Jesus' teaching and where other misinterpret. A Christian is not suppose to tolerate everything you do, but we are suppose to love and care about you (Mark 12:31).

Studying the Bible for me and other students of the text of our faith is a life long process that shows new things being revealed each time we read it. This is why for my fellow Christians we should be the student of our faith that Paul called Timothy to be. For non-believers or those straddling the fence between believing and not believing, delve into the Bible, a parallel bible with annotations is great place to begin. Make notes and jot down other text the Bible refers to, to gain a deeper perspective.

There are many more misconceptions about the Christian faith, however these three are the ones I encounter the most. Sometimes we as Christians facilitate these misconceptions by our actions and sometimes we are the ones who misconstrue things. My goal in writing this is to encourage thoughtful and thorough study of the Christian faith and its main text, the Bible.

Sources

American Bible Society. (1995). Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version. New York: American Bible Society.

Nelson, L. (1998). JPS Electronic Edition. Retrieved 2008

Public Domain. (1611). King James Version.

The Lockman Foundation. (1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995). New American Standard Bible.

Tyndale Charitable Trust. (1996, 2004). New Living Translation.