All my life, I have been a Christian and I didn't think much about how people viewed Christianity. In the US, at least a majority of Americans proclaim to be Christians, and I think it's safe to assume that most people know the tenets of Christianity.
Two things in Spain, though, have made me think how people view Christianity.
1. My history/religion class
My class is called "Jews, Muslims, and Christians: historic encounters in the Mediterranean" and in the beginning, we reviewed the basic beliefs and customs of all three religions. When we were learning about the beginnings of Islam during the 600s, I remember listening to the lectures as if I were listening to a story - I don't personally believe that Mohammad was a prophet of God, or that Abraham sacrificed Ishmael instead of Isaac, or that the Black Stone was first placed by Adam. I simply took my notes and listened to the professor, who said things like "Mohammad believed himself to be the final prophet after Jesus" and other statements in that same sort of tone. Then we started to go over the beginnings of Christianity. The professor now said "Jesus believed himself to be the Son of God" and talked about the "alleged miracles." Now there is nothing wrong with those statements in an academic setting, since there is no tangible proof that the miracles happened and Jesus did believe himself to be the Son of God (the thing is that I also believe that statement), but the way he phrased them made them seem untrue. In fact, the way he phrased everything about the 3 religions made them seem untrue. I know that aspects of Christianity must be fantastical to others (like how some parts of Islam seemed fantastical to me), especially the resurrection and the miracles, but the class made me realize just how fantastical Christianity is.
2. My 60-year-old señora
My señora is Catholic, so I thought she would know the basics of Protestantism. So I was surprised when she asked my roommate and me what Protestants believed in (she knew we were Protestants). I replied, "La Biblia" (the Bible), a bit confused at this point. She replied, "No, I mean Muslims believe in Allah, Catholics believe in God. What do Protestants believe in?" Then, a bit flabbergasted, I replied "En Dios, por supuesto." (In God, of course.) Then I stormed off to church. Later, my roommate and I had a little discussion about our conversation. How did she not know the basic tenets of Protestantism/Christianity? Does Catholicism = Christianity to all Spaniards in that age range, and Protestantism ≠ Christianity? I didn't feel like talking about this to my señora with my limited Spanish,who can get defensive, but I am a bit surprised and curious about what she actually thinks of Protestantism.
Susan
that's interesting that not everyone believes that protestantism essentially holds the same beliefs as catholicism... but in terms of a purely historical perspective, it's not so hard for all religions to come off as these fantastical stories that are wildly implausible... but i guess that calls into play the whole idea of "having faith." i mean, if everything in the Bible (or any other religious text) could be proved scientifically/historically, of course it would be entirely logical to believe and there would be no aspect of faith... it'd be equivalent to believing that the earth revolves around the sun... or that george washington was the first president of the US- pure scientific or historical fact. shrug. this has turned out to be much longer than i expected. hope you're doing well, susan! also, i hope it's warmer in spain than it is here! [and not snowy]
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