Article:

Christianity as PRAXIS
(Taken from the Journal of Contemplative Reflection, Vol. 1, Issue 1, April 1998)

Typically, we think of Christianity as a set of beliefs, a belief system or a creed. A Christian is one who subscribes to the beliefs of the faith (for example, the belief that Jesus is the Son of God). Faith, then, is seen to be belief in propositions or statements made about God, Jesus, or the Bible. Suppose, however, this whole approach is wrong from the start. Suppose the truth of Christianity is not a set of beliefs at all, but a praxis (a spiritual discipline or practice, or a practical way of life). One would learn the truth of Christianity, then, not by holding certain beliefs, but by practicing its principles. This would be similar to learning how to ride a bike. One would only know about bicycle riding by getting on it, trying it out, falling off, but eventually learning to stay up. Once bicycle riding was learned, the "truth" of it could never be transmitted in mere words. It simply wouldn't work. Nothing would be communicated of any real substance by words alone.

A seasoned "rider" (a believer in riding bicycles, or better, a practitioner of riding) could only really help another new rider to get up on the bicycle. Then, to encourage the new rider to stay on with practical instructions, dust them off and care for them when they fell off, and in the end encourage them to get back on to try once more. Only in this way is the "truth" of bicycle riding communicated.

Let's imagine then that Christianity is just such a truth. It is a way of life that must be learned in the same manner. It cannot be passed on through creed or belief systems in any fundamental way, in the same way that the knowledge of bicycle riding cannot be passed on in books or beliefs about bicycles. Christianity, the way of life and coming to know God taught by Jesus, then, is the same. It is not a system of beliefs, but a practical way of living that enables one to know God at the depths of the heart, and to live out this knowledge in the midst of life. This is what Jesus knew and taught. This is what Jesus went to crucifixion to affirm. This was the life that was brought into being through his death and given back as a gift of Spirit, an interior presence to us, his students.

Lynn C. Bauman