“Properly speaking, we do not have a religion any more… the word ‘religion’ means ‘a binding,’ in the sense of religious duties bound upon the individual… The Greek word [for religion] comes from a verb meaning ‘to wail, to frighten.’ The idea was that fear of the gods caused men to practice certain religious rites. There is none of that in Christianity. Sometimes… people… have the false idea that they must placate some offended deity. But in Christianity there is quite another idea. Our faith is not primarily occupied with what we do for God but what He has done for us. We have received grace that flows from the risen, ascended and living Lord Jesus Christ. We surrender our lives to Him so that we are occupied with the Savior and not with forms and liturgies. This is the obedience of faith: to be occupied with Christ so that He permeates our whole life.” — Donald Barnhouse (from Man’s Ruin, p. 62)