“It looked not so much as if Christianity was bad enough to include any vices, but rather as if any stick was good enough to beat Christianity with.” — G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Christianity is accused of being too fussy because it condemns drunkenness, but it is also accused of being too fast and loose because it requires wine in communion.
Christianity is accused of being too bloodthirsty because it requires the execution of convicted murderers, rapists, and kidnappers, but it is also accused of being too merciful because it forbids the execution of innocent unborn children, the elderly, and the handicapped.
Christianity is accused of being too prudish because it forbids fornication and adultery, but it is also accused of being too profane because it requires regular relations between a husband and wife.
Christianity is accused of being too vulgar and base because it talks openly about sex, but it is also accused of being too prim and proper because it condemns open displays of overt sexuality.
Christianity is accused of being too materialistic because it insists on tangible obedience, but it is also accused of being too spiritual because it looks to a city not built by human hands.
Christianity is accused of being too old fashioned because it has been around a long time, but it is also accused of being too novel because it has only been around since the death of Christ.
Christianity is accused of being too divisive and is blamed for all of the blood of human history, but it is also accused of being too compromising and is blamed for being too wimpy to matter.
Christianity is accused of being too boring and it is accused of being too excitable.
Christianity is accused of being too much work and it is accused of offering too much grace.
Christianity is accused of being too hot and it is accused of being too cold.
Christianity is accused of being too much and it is accused of being not enough.
Christianity is accused of being too Christlike and it is accused of not being Christlike enough.
All that to say, there are any number of ways to accuse Christianity of falling short, but there is only one way to measure how short something falls, and that is Christ. He is only the standard against which Christianity can be compared. So, even in accusing Christianity, the heathen must borrow Christian tools.
It is Christ or chaos.
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