Christianity is often dismissed as a fantasy, the “opium of the people,” as Karl Marx called religion (which in his historical context meant Christianity). It supposedly numbs the anxieties and existential horrors of life with the promise of a loving God and an eternity in Heaven. It is wishful thinking, nothing more.

But does that really make sense? Is Christianity the religion someone would invent as wish fulfillment? Let’s consider the idea.

Before we start, we have to be careful to separate the Bible from institutional Christianity (which I will do in much more detail in the Church section of Reconstructing Faith). The issue is not what lifestyles or belief systems people have built out of the Bible; rather, it is what the Bible actually says and what faith system it describes.

The Bible Does Not Resemble a Fantasy

Let’s think about the major aspects of a fantasy one might concoct concerning God and eternity.

To start, in a proper religious fantasy, either everyone would go to Heaven, or else only the obviously evil would go to Hell. But in the Bible, Jesus says:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

If you were making up the Bible, and you could make it say anything, would you make it say that? Would you create a system whereby real diligence and difficulty is involved in finding salvation?

No, in a fantasy, Heaven would be easy to get into. But in the Bible, Jesus says:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

“Lawlessness” means living a life pursuing “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16), doing or seeking whatever you believe is good and desirable. As the Thelemites preach, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Jesus, however, said:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

Much of Paul’s letter to the Romans concerned this “denial of self,” which he described as fighting the sinful impulses of the flesh. Consider this powerful statement:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

“Being Christian” is not enough to escape condemnation. One must abandon the dictates of the flesh and walk in holiness, renouncing all the impulses, addictions, and unbiblical desires that dominated our lives prior to our conversion.

Furthermore, not only must we oppose the dictates of our flesh, but we can’t even win the battle without God’s divine intervention:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:15-25)

If you were inventing a comforting lie about a God who doesn’t really exist, would you design a practice of faith that requires the personal intervention of that very non-existent God to succeed? How would you expect that to work?

The Real Fantasies

The Bible thus preaches self-denial, diligence and difficulty in finding salvation, and the necessity of God actively participating in your religious walk to find success. None of these would ever be found in a fantasy. But there are plenty of modern beliefs that more clearly constitute fantasies:

• Prosperity theology teaches that one can leverage and manipulate God to obtain health and wealth, the very things sinful man desires more than God.
• Institutional churches implement a way of life whereby “Christians” can live lives of their choosing from Monday through Saturday, then check a box by attending church on Sunday, “confessing” to a priest, taking communion, etc., and in so doing, they are guaranteed a seat in Heaven. In some systems, being baptized once is all you need to do to ensure your salvation.
• Manifestation teaches that you can obtain desirable things like fame and fortune by just focusing on them hard enough or reciting a mantra enough times.
• Darwinism teaches that there are no objective moral laws or eternal consequences for anything, meaning you’re pretty much free to decide your own way of life and assign spiritual meaning to whatever you want to value. Thus, you are free to live how you wish, and you will not suffer consequences in this life or the next as a result.

All of these belief systems and others like them far more clearly fit the mold of “fantasy” or “convenient lie” than the rigorous and spiritually demanding way of life laid out in the Bible.

Note that while I have only quoted in this article from the New Testament, the Old Testament is much the same way. For example, most of the prophetic books (which make up a significant chunk of the Old Testament) are concerned with calling out Israel for their faithlessness and laying blame for their sufferings and ultimate destruction at the hands of their political enemies solidly at their own feet. What other nation has ever recorded their history that way, with such consistency and heavy emphasis, rather than creating a narrative that venerates their own nation and villainizes their foes and oppressors?

No, the Bible is not a book that mortal man would ever write. It was clearly written by a higher power who demands accountability and faithfulness from His followers, in stark contrast to their own instinctive desires.