Cafeteria Christianity
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Cafeteria Christianity is a pejorative term, used in general against individual Christians or Christian churches who are perceived as selectively following or believing the doctrines of their religion, particularly what the Bible states as being the word or will of God. As cafeteria style means to pick and choose, as in choosing what food to purchase from a cafeteria line, the implication of the term "Cafeteria Christianity" is that the individual's professed religious belief is actually a proxy for their personal opinions rather than a genuine interpretation of or spiritual relationship with Christian doctrine. The "picking and choosing" may relate to acceptance of Christian beliefs, such as whether God created the world in seven days or Jesus was the son of God, or the following of moral commands and prohibitions, such as whether women should be able to teach or extramarital sex is forbidden, or even the validity of all or any of the Ten Commandments (for example the Sabbath) or the Sermon on the Mount (in particular the introduction to the Expounding of the Law) or the Great Commission.
The label of "Cafeteria Christianity" has been used both to encourage more conformity with Christian doctrine and to advocate for less. When used by conservative or fundamentalist Christians, it is often an expression of their preference for what they perceive to be a literal and uniform approach to the teachings and beliefs of Christianity, rather than the carefree do-what-you-want theology preferred by Liberal Christians and most Catholics. The term in that sense thus expresses contempt for those Christians viewed as lax or selfish followers of Christianity, and perhaps reflects an attempt to motivate more conformity through shame (see antinomianism). It also reflects a confidence on the part of those Christians employing it that their own personal views have not affected what they accept as true or necessary within their religion. "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29b) "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matt 15:9)
It is also used by non-fundamentalist Christians or non-Christian skeptics to undermine the advocacy of certain Christian precepts by pointing out the supposed inconsistency of the advocate's position. The logic of such a usage is that someone who has rejected one supposed command of God has little room to argue that another command claimed to come from God should be followed. Atheists, agnostics and liberal Christians sometimes observe that some Christians are more than willing to condemn people who sin on certain things or acts yet themselves do not adhere to parts of the Bible, such as laws against sex before marriage and divorce, or even the "shellfish" passage in Leviticus. [1]
Some hold that such inconsistencies cited by both sides of this issue can be settled by literally accepting the validity to Christians of all Biblical commands, and more importantly, that the attempt at such complete obedience is intended by God. In the late 20th century, some Christian groups, primarily those found in or influenced by Messianic Judaism, have asserted that Torah laws should be followed by Christians. They cite as partial evidence the speculation that Early Christians obeyed Torah laws such as the seventh-day Sabbath and Passover for hundreds of years after Jesus' resurrection, ceasing only after they were legally prohibited by Church authorities.
Non-Christian skeptics have pointed to the neglect of Old Testament commands as evidence of religious inconsistency and "cafeteria christianity." However, due to a different understanding of Biblical passages that have been traditionally interpreted to justify disobedience to commands such as dietary laws, seventh day Sabbath, and Biblical festival days, such commands are upheld as entirely applicable to Christians, and are observed in some way within these segments of Christianity. As with Orthodox Judaism, capital punishment and sacrifice are not practiced because there are very strict Biblical conditions on how these are to be practiced, conditions which do not currently exist. Christians who attempt to follow Torah law do not do such works in order to achieve salvation, but rather because they wish to more fully obey God (see Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Expounding of the Law, and also see Christian view of the Law). See sources below (Lancaster and Berkowitz).
[edit] External links
- Hang Six - A biblically correct solution to the Ten Commandments controversy
- Moralistic Therapeutic Deism - the New American Religion
- COG article on Cafeteria Christianity
- Pastor Russ Reese on Cafeteria Christianity
- An Atheist argument on Cafeteria Christianity
- Cafeteria Catholics
- Madison Catholic Herald: Cafeteria Christians
- St. Luke Orthodox Church: Sodomy
[edit] Further reading
- Berkowitz, Ariel and D'vorah. Torah Rediscovered. 4th ed. Shoreshim Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-9752914-0-8
- Lancaster, D. Thomas. Restoration. Littleton: First Fruits of Zion, 2005.
