Conformity or Transformation?

6/29/2025

Christianity is, or should be, a transformative religion, in the late 14th-century sense of the word, transformen—that is, to alter or change the form of supernaturally. The Latin root trans signifies across or beyond, while formare remains innately comprehensible in the modern use form.

What Jesus offers is definitely across or beyond mortal life, and it has everything to do with changing form in that beyond. Those who choose to follow Jesus may experience some transformative effects in mortal life, but the bulk of the transformation occurs in the beyond, after death.

Unfortunately, Christianity has become a religion of seeking transformation in mortal life—of disregarding the beyond or across in favor of some alteration in the here and now.

Somewhere in Christianity’s history, the aim of supernatural, next-worldly change gave way to desiring natural changes and improvements in this world in the form of better lives, improved societies, the conquest of social ills, altruism, good citizenship, and all the rest. Changing forms in the beyond quickly became somewhat of an afterthought.

Christianity also quickly became a religion of conformity. At first, this conformity centered on obedience to God and complying with his Will; however, as the churches rose in temporal and political power, they demanded adherence to doctrines and laws that aimed to make Christians compliant and tractable in this world. The churches taught that the supernatural change in form Jesus offers in the beyond depended exclusively on this-worldly conformity to churches.

The power and influence that Christianity and its churches enjoyed in this world faded long ago. Contemporary worldly power and politics not only reject transformation in the supernatural, next-worldly sense, but they are positively antagonist toward it. And the churches? Well, the churches now conform almost entirely to that antagonistic worldly power.

So, what do Christians conform to when they willingly conform to churches?

Christianity is, or should be, a transformative religion rather than a conformative religion.

Anyone who argues otherwise is focusing on the wrong form.

3 Comments

bruce g charlton

6/30/2025 08:30:28

I still recall how shocking it was to me when I realized that the Fourth Gospel was about primarily resurrected life everlasting - it seemed shocking that Jesus would be offering something that seemed so crude and childish - and not offering a better life for all!

The big problem with assuming that Jesus was offering a perfected this-world is - well, if this is possible for God, then why don't we *already* have-it? Why the delay? In fact - if this life and world can be perfect - why wasn't it made that way in the first place?

This is a real killer question, because - although there are innumerable would-be answers, there is no satisfactory answer; not if God is assumed to be good and loving.

Francis Berger

6/30/2025 17:22:03

@ Bruce - "In fact - if this life and world can be perfect - why wasn't it made that way in the first place?"

As you know, some standard responses include the following:

a) God, as a perfect being, cannot replicate perfection
b) Everything that is good in the world is being; all that is not is non-being.
c) It's already the best of all possible worlds, hat tip Leibniz.
d) It was perfect but, you know, the fall and all that.
e) It is perfect, we are just too intellectually and spiritually limited to understand that because omniscience, etc.
f) It's not perfect now, but it will be when Jesus returns. Just you wait.
g) It's a mystery. A sacred one, at that.

There are many more, but I think covers the most common responses to that question. None of them are satisfying or coherent, but we need to show humility before the great minds who thought up these things. After all, who are we to disturb the universe?

6/30/2025 18:37:28

Indeed.

And such answers don't work - either because they are not answers at all; or because they lead to further killer problems, some of which deny Christianity.

e.g.

What is the point of a perfect being creating imperfection? And then, laboriously, re-perfecting it...

(There is far too much of this kind of circularity in much theology - a long way around to get to the same place you started; and not just Christian (the cycles of Hinduism, for instance). This is just arbitrary, therefore not an explanation but an assumption.)

The Fall etc just isn't an answer. I am astonished that anyone ever thought it was an answer. It's like explaining evil coming from a wholly good omnipotent God, by attributing it to the devil, who was created by God.

We are supposed to accept that evil is the devil's fault, but the devil is not God's fault - which still asserting that everything is nonetheless God's doing. I can only assume that the contradiction between parts is missed/ denied because it is too much for people to hold in their heads simultaneously.

And if it is (and it often is) argued that the world is Already perfect, there is no point in Jesus - and we are in the realms of Islam, or more likely Hinduism.

And if it will be perfected when Jesus returns, then Jesus must have failed; also how will he succeed in the future, when he failed in the past ? What has changed since?

If it's a mystery, then we must just submit to an unknowable God - which is not Christianity, but more like Islam...

The problem is, when "explanations" get complex or highly abstract, they become Word Spells, and people think the question has been answered when they have actually just been lulled to sleep.

That's OK if it works, but it clearly doesn't work anymore, and has not worked for several generations.

And word-spelling comes with the price that everybody is then asleep insofar as they are Christian, therefore not motivated - therefore they become passively-assimilated to worldly evil and support of the Satanic agenda...

Which is what we find.

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