Christian religious tradition (or Christianity) has long been thought of as a set of dogmas, sacraments and moral attitudes linked with a belief and reverence in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as captured in the stores of the Bible. Within Biblical gospels one find descriptions of the many miracles Jesus Christ bestowed upon mankind, stories that became fundamental to Christian belief, where the faithful profess to the genuine nature of these stories as factual truths. Given the structure of the Christian religious traditions, Christian’s belief in miracles, expressions of divine intervention and the adherence to teachings, practices, and rituals associated with the faith with an established heritage and long history, many scholars
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He points out that a decline in religion may be viewed as desirable since “religion is a facet of the unenlightened mind” (Graham 192), the evidence of which he believes to be very clear for two specific reasons. To explain the first, Graham refers to the history of Christianity and how “it has stimulated some of the most undesirable events and institutions of human history, from the ostracism of Jews over the centuries” (Graham 192), the Inquisition, wars and persecutions of nonbelievers or those who posed threat to the church’s traditions. Gordon contends that critics claim “the sort of intolerance, enmity and strife which only religion can generate is to be found still wherever religious enthusiasm persists…not only has Christianity prompted these phenomena, it has constantly provided apologists for those opposed to progressive development” (Graham 192). His second argument maintains that the religious mind is not enlightened due to “the constant tendency of Christianity throughout its history…to strife intellectual criticism for the sake of groundless dogma, to demand a faith that ‘does not question how’. In its Roman Catholic version the individual intellect must give way to the infallible dictates...in its Protestant version, reason must take second place to faith…” (Graham
He points out that a decline in religion may be viewed as desirable since “religion is a facet of the unenlightened mind” (Graham 192), the evidence of which he believes to be very clear for two specific reasons. To explain the first, Graham refers to the history of Christianity and how “it has stimulated some of the most undesirable events and institutions of human history, from the ostracism of Jews over the centuries” (Graham 192), the Inquisition, wars and persecutions of nonbelievers or those who posed threat to the church’s traditions. Gordon contends that critics claim “the sort of intolerance, enmity and strife which only religion can generate is to be found still wherever religious enthusiasm persists…not only has Christianity prompted these phenomena, it has constantly provided apologists for those opposed to progressive development” (Graham 192). His second argument maintains that the religious mind is not enlightened due to “the constant tendency of Christianity throughout its history…to strife intellectual criticism for the sake of groundless dogma, to demand a faith that ‘does not question how’. In its Roman Catholic version the individual intellect must give way to the infallible dictates...in its Protestant version, reason must take second place to faith…” (Graham