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Yet another Sunday had come to its close. A certain combination of migraine medication side effect, rice pudding, the Autumnal Equinox, and the impending national election had proved a potent cocktail; I lay in bed, fighting a rare inability to fall asleep.
Sundays in my life had gone through a tangible evolution. What had been a consistent pattern of weekly church worship, from infancy through early adulthood, had been displaced by alternating themes: night shift sleep schedules; nocturnality; intellectual curiosity; and, ultimately, abdication (translation: loss of virginity). In my life, the Lord’s Day, like the Sabbath, had become indistinguishable from any other day of the week.
But, I would be intellectually dishonest were I to hide the fact that my belief patterns had also been morphing. The absolute truths put forth by proponents of the Holy Bible literalists had come into serious question and, with this, any commitment to a Christianity specifically defined.
What, after all, was Christianity? I’d read The History of Christianity, by Paul Tillich. I’d read other speculators, William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience among them. And, I’d read virtually every word of the Holy Bible – King James Version, Scofield Reference, and J.N. Darby translation. Raised by sectarian Fundamentalists to believe that the One Way To Worship was their exclusive domain, and accepting Jesus as my Personal Savior at age six, the moment I’d consciously set one toe outside of that sanctified corral had set me on a path leading directly to the Grand Nowhere.
Now, eyes to the ceiling in the dark, I ruminated. How many called to worship on that day, who called themselves Christians, were there, exactly?
Perhaps it was time to count sheep.
I began with the letter A.
A — Abyssinian Greeks; Amish; Ames Brethren; Anglicans; Assemblies of God
B — Baptists; Brethren, Church of;
C — Calvinists; Closed Brethren; Colossians; Converted Jews; Coptics; Corinthians;
D — Davidians; Denominationalists; Doctors of Divinity; Dogmatists;
E — Ecumenicals; Ephesians; Episcopalians; Evangelicals; Evangelical Frees;
F — Federated Free; Franciscans; Fundamentalists;
G — Galations; General Association of Regular Baptists; Gnostics; Gregorians;
H — Holiness Pentecostals; Holy Eastern Orthodox;
I — Independent Baptists; Inter-Denominationalists; Irish Catholics;
J — Jehovah’s Witnesses; Jesuits; Jesus Freaks;
K — Knights Templar;
L — Laodiceans; Latter Day Saints; Lutherans;
M — Mennonites; Methodists; Mormons, Reformed;
N — Nazarenes; New Apostolics; non-Denominationalists;
O — Open Brethren; Orthodox Greeks;
P — Philippians; Plymouth Brethren; Protestants; Presbyterians; Pentecostals;
Q — Quakers;
R — Roman Catholics; Reformed, so called;
S — Scientist, Church of Christ; Seventh Day Adventists; Smyrnans;
T — Theologians, Academic; Thessalonians;
U — United Brethren; United Church of Christs’; Unitarians;
V — Vatican, The;
W — Wesleyan Methodists; Worldwide Church of God;
X — Xmas Celebrants;
Y — Youth Pastors;
Z — Zionists!
.
Indeed. The alphabet proved a useful tool; its twenty six letters had successfully taken me across the spectrum of Christianity, from the Apostle Paul’s inception through to the present day.
Further research, beyond the ironic – though futile – quest for the letter “X”, revealed the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and their list of Official Denominational websites. In Hartford’s list, the number of entries for the letter “A” alone, while inclusive of other religions, exceeded the number of letters in the alphabet.
As I drifted off to sleep, a final thought formulated in my mind. It was neither a proclamation, nor a dogma, nor a tenet. Rather, it appeared as a challenge, in the form of this question:
When fairly addressing the argument for or against the theory of evolution, wouldn’t one only have to consider the history of the Christian church as evidence?
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© Ruth Ann Scanzillo 11/7/16 All rights those of the author, whose name appears above this line. Thank you for your respect. Like my Mammy always said, “Prayer Changes Things.”
littlebarefeetblog.com
littlebarefeetblog 
Christianity sure has changed lots in the last century – superseded by the cult of “YOLO” – I’m thinking Jesus Junkies, or “ex-junkies for Jesus”, has a ring to it, I don’t think there is such a group, but this interests me as I have known a few and observed more on TV, junkies who swear to have experienced JC on their paths, more so than the general population, tho I suppose they experience everything intensely due to their habits, so perhaps the spiritual is also distorted and thats all it is?
I was actually thinking of a church in London where they were raving for Jesus, worship thru dance kind of thing, it was reported as a rising tide, I suppose its evolved since medieval times many times over, its a smart religion that can do that, religions which can’t adapt don’t last – its amazing how many ways there are into it.
I was just thinking how left wing ideals are starting to look less attractive to voters as they no longer seem as fierce as the right wing now does, at other times it was the other way around. I like to think the left should just wait till they are wanted, and not water down the message or ideals, or maybe its ok to fracture into sects, as Christianity has done, in order to just do good, in whatever ways is possible? xx
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well, your reasoning catches me red-handed. religions which don’t ADAPT don’t survive. wow, and wow, again.
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Well I too admit to live on both side of the coin, I love the idea of the one truth, but when it keeps shifting it gets harder to keep up with. Sometimes I wish I’d studied theology, I’m interested in the nature of the holy trinity, and stuff like that, how that concept evolved, why 3 is significant?
My route into it has always been from the outer borders, which is where I make my home, I don’t like to lose myself often, hence I love the idea of a steady rock much more than the fluid trust thing 🙂 xx
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Indeed. And, while I was born entrenched, I have found the outer borders to be my sanctuary. Can’t get a certain still countenance with white hair, sitting in two rooms in refuge not far from you, out of my head, today. I have never feared for the life of another like I fear for this man, his wife, and their children, at this moment. Yes; theology, and the trinity. Today, I am preoccupied by that which I cannot know. What you have said here is some of the most cogent and profound evidence of a truly keen mind I think I have ever read. XO OF!
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Well its very interesting for me too, when someone loved comes up with a different perspective, very inspiring!
I’m in one of those between moods! I find myself quite cogent one day, quite muddled the next!
I’m not sure I follow you on “I fear for this man, his wife, and their children” – not sure who that is you refer to? Maybe I’ll drop you a line later, I got some chores to do right now Xx
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WikiLeaks founder. I won’t type his name in this thread, but you can easily find his interview online. He’s in the UK, in asylum.
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Oh yes, I know who you mean – threw me a bit when you said “in asylum” cos I thought you meant gone mad! Yes, the case is troubling!
I wanted to add, as I was a bit rushed earlier, I don’t mean I’m muddled so much, or less cogent – more that on other days I wouldn’t see the same path to explain, some days I’m more atheist than others, or more / less sympathetic etc 🙂 xx
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As am I. My “beliefs” are fluid and, I maintain, the Almighty already knows all about that. Naked before God. That’s my modus op.
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Ooh, lucky God! 😉
Yeah, for me I think when I was younger I was more confused by aspects of it than I am now, and while it seems maybe it was a mistake to waste so much time unraveling so much of the fluff – one finds what remains is the real meat after all 😀
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Sorry bout that corny joke, couldn’t hardly resist! 🙂 Xx
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Sorry…..I was blinders on, at the piano. Huge piano trio program, on tap for Feb
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