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Can a person not believe in the God of Abraham and be a Christian?

Ebionite

Ebionite

Well-Known Member
1213 said:
By what is said in the Bible, a Christian means a disciple of Jesus.
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No, the Bible doesn't support that.

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Acts 11:26
 
rocala

rocala

Well-Known Member
King Phenomenon said:
Ooh magic. I love me some magic. Without the magic no one would be here. So it’s kinda important.
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Please remind me, are we talking about religion or our preferred fantasy literature? I often wonder if for some people, there is in fact a difference?
 
9-10ths_Penguin

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Eddi said:
Can a person not believe in the God of Abraham and be a Christian?
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In one way: sure. In another way: depends.

Every religion is a community of shared belief, so it's a matter of whether you belong to the community. With that in mind:

- would you consider yourself a Christian if you didn't believe in the God of Abraham?

- would other members of your Christian community accept you as a member if you told them that you don't believe in the God of Abraham?

If the answer to both of these questions is "yes," then you're a Christian. However, the fact that you felt the need to post this thread suggests that you wouldn't think that this would be the case.


Eddi said:
I don't believe in a Supreme Being, I am a Pantheist

My "God" is metaphysical rather than personal

I don't believe in this guy:

View attachment 96939
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Most Christians don't believe that God is a giant old man with a beard sitting on a cloud.

Eddi said:
However: I believe that Jesus Christ is somehow real (but won't go into the details of that here, not right now)

I believe that he is at work in our world right now, and I find the stories about him in the Christian scriptures to be inspiring and wise

So I don't know whether or not I can call myself a Christian

On RF the Christian DIR is under the Abrahamic DIR so I don't think I can really be active in there if I don't believe in the God that most people who profess to be Christians believe in
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Christianity is a religion in the Abrahamic tradition.
 
amorphous_constellation

amorphous_constellation

Well-Known Member
Eddi said:
My "God" is metaphysical rather than personal

I don't believe in this guy:

god.png

However: I believe that Jesus Christ is somehow real (but won't go into the details of that here, not right now)

I believe that he is at work in our world right now, and I find the stories about him in the Christian scriptures to be inspiring and wise

So I don't know whether or not I can call myself a Christian
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I don't know exactly, but it is a good question, simply because the biblical Jesus was highly ephemeral to some of the people who saw him / believed in him, unlike what happened between important leaders and followers in the other Abrahamic religions.

You might have been in a crowd back then, and you might have saw him for exactly 2 and half minutes. Before losing him in the crowd, you reached out and touched his cloak, which seemed to heal leprosy, and there and then, you became a believer... but in what exactly? It was like seeing a ghost, in terms of rarity or ephemeral experience. So it isn't very clear exactly what it is that you have to believe about him. Most of the people at the time seemed to have a patchy but strong view of who he was, in one form or the other
 
Eddi

Eddi

Christianity, Taoism, and Humanism
Premium Member
George-ananda

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
Eddi said:
However: I believe that Jesus Christ is somehow real (but won't go into the details of that here, not right now)

I believe that he is at work in our world right now, and I find the stories about him in the Christian scriptures to be inspiring and wise

So I don't know whether or not I can call myself a Christian

On RF the Christian DIR is under the Abrahamic DIR so I don't think I can really be active in there if I don't believe in the God that most people who profess to be Christians believe in
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My thought is that you can be a Christian and have a more evolved understanding of God than the Old Testament shows at certain points. Actually, I believe Jesus' mission was to bring a better understanding of a loving God.
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
Eddi said:
Can a person not believe in the God of Abraham and be a Christian?

I don't believe in a Supreme Being, I am a Pantheist

My "God" is metaphysical rather than personal

I don't believe in this guy:

View attachment 96939

However: I believe that Jesus Christ is somehow real (but won't go into the details of that here, not right now)

I believe that he is at work in our world right now, and I find the stories about him in the Christian scriptures to be inspiring and wise

So I don't know whether or not I can call myself a Christian

On RF the Christian DIR is under the Abrahamic DIR so I don't think I can really be active in there if I don't believe in the God that most people who profess to be Christians believe in
Click to expand...
I believe you could call yourself a cultrual or ethical Christian. You are most likely not a born again Christian because you do not believe in the God Spirit so how can He be in you?
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
rocala said:
Thank you for such an interesting post. Christianity does seem to be under a certain lock and key, although I feel sure that he addressed all types of people. I believe that there was something special about him, maybe enlightened like the Buddha.

However, the "magic tricks" people with their virgin births, walking on water and resurrection have taken over the whole thing.
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I believe the miracles are there with the wise words and only a materialist would have problems with that.
 
Muffled

Muffled

Jesus in me
Rival said:
You would be a heretic by definition, if that. The only orthodox form of Christianity is Nicaean. That's why all heretical forms have a prefix such as Arian or Nestorian.
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I believe it is fortunate that no-one is being burned at the stake or tortured these days. The moe rules a church has the more likely I will be viewed as a heretic.
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Eddi said:
...call myself a Christian...
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Eddi said:
...make my beliefs and my religion sound second-class...
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Eddi said:
Can a person not believe in the God of Abraham and be a Christian?
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Things change as you grow and change, and your understanding changes. I think you start out as an initiate and commit to living like a Christian first. Then God gives you revelation, understanding along with it over time. Theoretically. I think you don't start out with a rock solid position on what God is or Jesus, and if you do then expect that position to shatter.

Its fair to say "I am a Christian initiate." That is perfectly defensible, and you don't have to argue with anyone. You may also confuse some people, and that could be entertaining.
 
Mister Emu

Mister Emu

Emu Extraordinaire
Staff member
Premium Member
Eddi said:
Can a person not believe in the God of Abraham and be a Christian?
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No, and I don't understand why you would want to call yourself Christian if you reject the most basic things He espoused.

"Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment"
 
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