Mutating Religiosity

“When Christianity came to America, it became a business”

Dr. Richard C. Halverson (1916-1995), chaplain to the U.S. Senate, was credited in 1984 for a speech before the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church:

“In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next it moved to Europe where it became a culture, and, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.”

Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994), an English Christian evangelist, has been infrequently credited with a similar line:

“A man came into my office from another nation and he dropped this in my ear, ‘Christianity began in Palestine and it became a religion; it was transferred to Greece and it became a philosophy; it was transferred to Europe-- to England-- it became a cult and it was transferred to America (and) it became big business.’”

Sam Pascoe is frequently credited with a similar quotation:

“Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece an became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise." 

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"One of the reasons some modern Christians have such difficulty understanding the teachings of Jesus is that they rip these teachings out of their own, original context and pretend they were delivered just recently, somewhere in North America." ~ Bart D. Ehrman .

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