what is it structurally about the Christian church that has made it so pliable so often throughout history?

Humanity. Pure and simple. The same thing that messes up all the other organizations, institutions and religions in the world. God doesn’t seem to take the humanity out of Christians. Rather, He seems to expect us to be humble in admitting we are only human, and turn to Him for help to become more than we are right now, better humans than we are at the moment. The sad thing is, for most most Christians today this idea doesn’t even cross our minds. We tend to live trapped in legalism — which oddly is one of the things Jesus came to “deliver” us from — rather than living in the freedom of His grace. Our humanity, when we live in grace, is what allows God to shine through — through the grace with give others (and ourselves) for not being perfect, and through our humility — our ability to honsetly and humbly admit we ain’t got it all together or tied up in a bow.

Christianity is, if nothing else, an ethical system — that is, a system for right living.

Well, not exactly… yes, there is an ethical system within Christianity, but that is not the whole of it, or even the main thing. The whole reason Jesus came and died and rose again and all that is so that we could each, as individuals, have a growing, dynamic, deepening relationship with God. One where I talk and He listens and He talks and I listen. And our actions, God and me, are a product of that relationship. Kind of like when a person you love and have a good, strong relationship with asks you to do something that you may not want to do but you do it anyway — not because you have to in order to keep that relationship (or because of force) but because you want to, out of love. So it’s really not the faith that leads to works as much as it is faith that leads to relationship, which leads to works.

Does that make sense?

If it has so often failed to respond ethically in the face of great evil, what exactly is left?

Good question. Does it mean, perhaps, that there weren’t really all that many true Christians to begin with? I dont’t know… perhaps. But what is left is still what is most important; that is, the relationship with God.

I still think that it is humility and grace that are a Christian’s greatest assets (when we actually develop and use them!). Even when we fail to respond in the face of great evil, God can shine through if we are humble and show grace to ourselves and others. And He uses that humility and grace to effect change, not just in the Church but in others who watch us.

why I have to believe anything about Jesus in order to believe that this is the right way to live. And thus far the only explanations I’ve found of why I should believe in Him are question-begging or groundless.

You don’t don’t have to. You don’t have to believe in Jesus to put the lifestyle, the “right way to live,” into practice. The ethics involved are true (feed the poor, take care of the widows and orphans, pay taxes, treat others with kindness, be humble, live quiet lives, etc) whether you believe in Jesus or not.

The only reason I can see to believe in Jesus — based on my own life and experience, on my reading and study of the Bible, and my observations of humanity — is if you realize you are in need of redemption and restoration with God. If your humanity and failings and flaws have not overwhelmed you and gotten the best of you, if you are able to live that right way to live without help and without failure, if you do not need grace from an unfailing, always loving source that never runs dry and never becomes impatient with you, then you don’t need Jesus.

And if you have a relationship with God that satisifies you, you don’t need to believe in Jesus.

It’s not that I’m a horribly weak failure of a person, so I need to believe in Jesus who can make me “strong” and “good.” It’s that I recognize that my humanity is, in the words of an addict, “out of control and making my life unmanagable.” And it is that my soul, which seemed to be inherently evil once and still seems bent in that direction, needed redemption; my whole being needs supernatural help to mature into the (ethical, morally good, wise, humble, kind, loving, gracious, etc) person I God seems to want me to be. When I think if why I believe in Jesus, this is a large part of it.

And mrz is on the mark that this is not about reasoning your way to faith, or about boiling it all down to something elegant and awesome. It all seems awesome to me — but I think that’s because I’m on the inside looking at this glorious thing called “Abundant Life” that is truly messy and complicated and chaotic and incomprehesible most times. But it’s so good. Like an amusement park ride you can’t explain, you just have to experience. And it all really does start with “intuition” — or rather, God’s Spirit’s poking that feels like “intuition.”

Does that make sense?

I hope I didn’t offend you with any of this. That was not my intention. But I also realize that words on a page don’t have the same tone that they have in my mind. I really enjoyed reading your post and the discussion in the comments, and just wanted to add my two little cents for the half-penny they are worth.

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This stuff makes my brain go in circles.

I think you missed my point. First, before you can even talk about believing in Jesus and what-not, you have to accept the framework tha the discussion of “You should believe in Jesus” makes any sense in. For instance, you need to accept the Christian God as being necessary, and then you may start to pull in other areas of the framework.

Also, from a faithful person’s perspective, I think it’s generally understood that you can’t really start by reasoning your way to God. You have to have some intuitive connection, which, will theoretically bring you toward a particular end. Once you’re in the framework intuitively, you can start to make sense of things from a reasoned standpoint.

Perhaps more concretely, most religions seem to have at their foundation some question or longing they are attempting to answer. So if you’re wondering why there is so much suffering in the world, and something like Buddhism comes along and says “You’re right. Everybody suffers…But, here’s what you can do.” or, if you wonder “How can I be a good person?” and Christianity comes along and says “Well, nobody’s really good, but here’s what you can do to be a good person.” Etc. That is, does a particular religion answer these kinds of questions for you. Once you’ve bought in, you can run with the tenents and see where they take you.

Of course, you’re still left with the question of “Why should I buy into this framework?”

That’s exactly my question. Nothing I’ve yet read has explained to me why I should believe all the stuff about Jesus.

That’s because you have to buy the framework of Christianity where just doing good works alone isn’t enough to save you. You can’t just be a mensch. You have to believe certain things like believing in Jesus. There are variations on the importance of good works depending on the sect. Catholics are generally into faith + good works. Protestants are generally in favor of fatih alone which supposedly leads to truly good works. Of course, you’re still left with the question of “Why should I buy into this framework?”