Demystification: Phase One

Scientific atheists and Christian theologians alike contend that the crux of Christianity rests on the belief in Christ's resurrection - it's become the modern day litmus test that will once and for all establish whether someone is a Christian or not. 

I, for one, pose to both parties this question: since when did belief in someone's teachings require belief in said teacher's immortality? The first Christians - those who accompanied Christ before his death - were obviously oblivious to the "fact" that he would rise from the dead - and yet they were still Christians. Similarly, your present-day Cartesians, Darwinists, Marxists and Maoists entertain no illusions concerning the death of their respective idols - must we then say that Cartesians are not "true Cartesians," because they have not enough faith in Descartes to believe that he transcended death? Must the Maoists believe that their portly premier still haunts the streets of Beijing in order to call themselves Maoists? I think not. 

The fact that the Roman Catholic Church has set up a series of requirements that believers must meet before they can call themselves Christians has no bearing on the true meaning of the word "Christian" - to be a Christian is to adhere to (or at least attempt to adhere to) the teachings of Jesus Christ. Proving that corpses do not reanimate in no way disproves that humility is a good quality to have, or that love of one's neighbor is generally a good thing; and conversely, a man is not made humble and loving simply because he places his belief in a physical impossibility. A Christian is first and foremost a follower of Christ - the superstition is no more than icing on the cake. If you believe it, that is.