Christians who reject the New Testament

[Sha'irullah]

Before entirely leaving Christianity I was at a point where I entirely rejected the New Testament. Rejection of the New Testament obviously makes one a non-Christian of course but I have actually seen such things mentioned by New Age people. Do some Google searches and you will see what I mean.

Getting back at hand though I would really like to know if there is someone here that defines themselves as Christian but rejects the New Testament or salvation through Jesus. I of course know it is idiotic to say the person is a Christian of course.

I am curious because I would not know what to call such a person and more importantly how that person still believes in the Old Testament. This is a very New Age thought I am curious about and I am sure someone here holds such views (not trying to rat anybody out).
Now before someone says that if you only accept the Old Testament you are a Jew then let me tell you that Jews do not even accept the Old Testament since it is quite different from the Tawrat/Torah(I still prefer Tawrat ). Many people are under the myth the Torah is essentially the Old Testament and I can assure you it is not. I have had a lengthy conversation about this with a friend not long ago and I really dislike repeating it.

Also I would really enjoy Jewish input about such a belief because the New Testament is a very pivotal piece that creates the split from Judaism and Christianity.

 

[Me Myself]

If you claim to follow christs teachings you can ressonably call yourself a christian (whether christ would or wouldnt agree is something that no one can say for now)

Now, a person could accept the four gospels and reject the letters by Paul and be a Christian.

Could even reject the whole new testament and accept "apocriphal" texts interpretation of Christ and call her/himself a christian. ( as long as he is following the teachings of the christ according to some version)

 

[Tarheeler]

Also I would really enjoy Jewish input about such a belief because the New Testament is a very pivotal piece that creates the split from Judaism and Christianity.

I was raised a Christian, and gave up the New Testament long before I finally gave up being Christian. It wasn't until I realized that Jesus was just a man who taught Jewish lessons that I finally gave up the title. After some serious searching, I found a rabbi to study with and converted to Judaism.

And I agree that there is much, much more to being Jewish that just rejecting the Christian Bible.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I was raised a Christian, and gave up the New Testament long before I finally gave up being Christian. It wasn't until I realized that Jesus was just a man who taught Jewish lessons that I finally gave up the title. After some serious searching, I found a rabbi to study with and converted to Judaism.

And I agree that there is much, much more to being Jewish that just rejecting the Christian Bible.

My whole issue is what on earth would you call such an individual. Not accepting the New Testament is one thing but being Jewish is a whole other.
I cannot even think of what would one call themselves to define such a belief.

 

[Tarheeler]

My whole issue is what on earth would you call such an individual. Not accepting the New Testament is one thing but being Jewish is a whole other.
I cannot even think of what would one call themselves to define such a belief.

There's plenty of terms for them, depending on their specific beliefs. Most would still qualify as Christians, even if they aren't traditional. And then there are Ebonites, Nazarenes, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians, Essenes, Gnostics...

 

[Sha'irullah]

There's plenty of terms for them, depending on their specific beliefs. Most would still qualify as Christians, even if they aren't traditional. And then there are Ebonites, Nazarenes, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians, Essenes, Gnostics...

I was doing some searching and I believe a more proper definition would be a Unitarian. The rejection of Biblical perfection and acceptance of Jesus as a prophet only stems from a more strong predisposition towards the New Testament it would appear. Definitely more in tune with what I have described earlier.

 

[Reverend Richard]

Before entirely leaving Christianity I was at a point where I entirely rejected the New Testament. Rejection of the New Testament obviously makes one a non-Christian of course but I have actually seen such things mentioned by New Age people. Do some Google searches and you will see what I mean.

Getting back at hand though I would really like to know if there is someone here that defines themselves as Christian but rejects the New Testament or salvation through Jesus. I of course know it is idiotic to say the person is a Christian of course.

.....

Reject is a strong word. I do not "reject" the New Testament. I view New Testament scripture as important, but not definitive. For example, when I perform weddings, and funerals, I read New Testament scripture, but I am also likely to quote Rumi, or use some other inspirational text.

Do I consider myself a "Christian"? I would say yes, but more out of tradition than out of a need to believe in order to be "saved".

 

[Sha'irullah]

Reject is a strong word. I do not "reject" the New Testament. I view New Testament scripture as important, but not definitive. For example, when I perform weddings, and funerals, I read New Testament scripture, but I am also likely to quote Rumi, or use some other inspirational text.

Do I consider myself a "Christian"? I would say yes, but more out of tradition than out of a need to believe in order to be "saved".

I guess the proper way to say this is 'one who disacknowledges the orthodox doctrine produced by clerical interpretations of the New Testament'. Hopefully that makes more sense because I do not want to give the supposition that nonconformity is the basis for such upheaval towards mainstream Christianity.

You say you quote Jalal Rumi which for many Christians in highly heretical but you do not do it in the sake of heterodoxy but for personal sentiment on the poetry produced by Jalal. This is more in accordance with what I meat in my original post. Not rejection of the New Testament for the sake of rebellion but less importance or disacknowledgement altogether that stems from individual opinion.

 

[Reverend Richard]

I guess the proper way to say this is 'one who disacknowledges the orthodox doctrine produced by clerical interpretations of the New Testament'. Hopefully that makes more sense because I do not want to give the supposition that nonconformity is the basis for such upheaval towards mainstream Christianity.

You say you quote Jalal Rumi which for many Christians in highly heretical but you do not do it in the sake of heterodoxy but for personal sentiment on the poetry produced by Jalal. This is more in accordance with what I meat in my original post. Not rejection of the New Testament for the sake of rebellion but less importance or disacknowledgement altogether that stems from individual opinion.

I see what you're getting at, and with some minor quibbles I would tend to agree with you.

With regard to my using Rumi's poetry in religious ceremonies, I suspect the the majority of Christians have no idea who Rumi is. Of course that could be changing too, because I see so much of his poetry (or brief snippets of it) showing up on Facebook. However, I don't so much use Rumi because of personal sentiment, or his ability to write beautiful poetry. I use him because his poetry has a way of stepping over or around "religion" and cuts straight to the heart of a spiritual thought or feeling. Is that a personal sentiment? I don't know, perhaps it is.

 

[SageTree]

Unitarian Christian (Not to be confused with Unitarian Universalists) would be a good label, methinks.

Christ doesn't start and stop with the first and last page of the New Testament.
It's a finger. Not the moon. Only the threshold of a doorway, leading to a vast cosmos of God-consciousness.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I use him because his poetry has a way of stepping over or around "religion" and cuts straight to the heart of a spiritual thought or feeling. Is that a personal sentiment? I don't know, perhaps it is.

Well to be honest that is a sentiment. A very good one at that since you use a piece of poetry to surpass religious bias. By cutting straight to the heart you are essentially bypassing the nodes that interfere with human emotion. You are very enlightened :yes:

 

[Gaura Priya]

I also second classical Unitarian Christianity. Classical Unitarianism was Christian in character, rationalist in theology, and sceptic in methodology. People like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Parker, James Freeman, and William Ellery Channing would be proponents of classical Unitarian thought and spirituality.

Classical Unitarianism not only posited the singular aspect of Godhead, but that God's influence does extend outside of Christian culture. 'Free Christianity' is also another word for that movement.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Unitarian Christian (Not to be confused with Unitarian Universalists) would be a good label, methinks.

Christ doesn't start and stop with the first and last page of the New Testament.
It's a finger. Not the moon. Only the threshold of a doorway, leading to a vast cosmos of God-consciousness.

A Christian Unitarian Is usually dogma free.
They do not reject any of the Bible, However they do draw their own conclusions when reading it. They are not bound by other peoples understandings.

Mostly they do accept the teachings of Jesus and that he is the son of God... though they reject the trinitarian explanation of a sort of composite God.
Mostly they leave the question of Jesus relationship to God open.

Welcome to The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland

We declare allegiance to the principle that:

• • the teaching of Christ must take precedence over the doctrines of a later time, and
  • Christian unity is to be sought, not in the uniformity of creed but in a common standard of duty and adherence to the commandments set out in the Holy Bible.

OUR FAITH

• • is governed by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible
  • asserts and upholds the right of each and every individual to search these scriptural records for themselves and to use reason and personal conscience to discover God’s Divine Truth
  • removes Human Tests and Confessions of Faith that restrict private judgement and prevent free enquiry
  • upholds the beautiful simplicity of the great commandments as defined by Jesus Christ: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and all your mind” and “You must love your neighbour as yourself”

 

[Zardoz]

There's plenty of terms for them, depending on their specific beliefs. Most would still qualify as Christians, even if they aren't traditional. And then there are Ebonites, Nazarenes, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians, Essenes, Gnostics...

Yes, quite a wide spectrum of belief indeed.

I as a Ebionite reject the so-called NT while yet gleaning from it's chaff that which I recognize as the wheat of Yeshua's teachings.

Nevertheless, in no way would I accept the label of Christian, with all that would imply.

 

[Shermana]

Yes, quite a wide spectrum of belief indeed.

I as a Ebionite reject the so-called NT while yet gleaning from it's chaff that which I recognize as the wheat of Yeshua's teachings.

Nevertheless, in no way would I accept the label of Christian, with all that would imply.

^^ Pretty much sums it up for me, as a self-proclaimed "Nazarene". I believe James and Jude and Revelation and the Gospels contain mostly truthful transmissions of what was said by and about Jesus, along with a lot of interpolations by those with an agenda beyond just carrying on his teachings. Such as the Virgin Birth for example. But Paul is definitely out, his epistles are nonetheless useful for a few things to see what the early dejudaized gentile church was talking about.

But I also believe that a lot of the Apocryphal, so-called "Gnostic" writings contain a lot of truth too....

 

[the one you are looking f]

The Teaching of God Almighty ./ CREATOR ... visiting His Creation in the form of a Man

this is an Old Testament teaching and EVENT. I don't see the Problem with the Old Testament.

The Old Testament and NEW,, are in perfect Harmony. The OLD telling of the Promise of the NEW.

I agree with some here... at this topic. but would like to discuss this more...

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

I am a Christian (more of a Red-Letter Christian), and I reject some parts of the New Testament. I don't reject the whole thing, but but I do reject parts of it that I believe to be a product of their times.

 

[SpentaMaynu]

There are also people who call themselves Christian Atheists. At first I couldn't understand this - being Christian for me meant to actually believe in Christ as the Son of God and, well, how can an atheist be a Christian at the same time. Then I learned that Christian Atheists accept the teachings of Jesus on such things as how to live with love and compassion, how to handle people around them, morality and so forth while 'rejecting' the rest of the NT as well as God and Jesus being Son of God.

 

[gilligan8914]

There were many more ancient books about Jesus that are not included in the new testament than there are included in it. The people who decided what books were to be included in the bible and which were not included, in effect were censors. Rejecting any books that theologically were different from their own. There is the alternative new testament that includes none of the books of the orthodox new testament, yet were revered by early christians as scripture.

 

[roger1440]

There are also people who call themselves Christian Atheists. At first I couldn't understand this - being Christian for me meant to actually believe in Christ as the Son of God and, well, how can an atheist be a Christian at the same time. Then I learned that Christian Atheists accept the teachings of Jesus on such things as how to live with love and compassion, how to handle people around them, morality and so forth while 'rejecting' the rest of the NT as well as God and Jesus being Son of God.

You might find this interesting,
Jefferson Bible
"The Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth as it is formally titled, was a book constructed by Thomas Jefferson in the latter years of his life by cutting and pasting (literally with a razor and glue) numerous sections from the New Testament as extractions of the doctrine of Jesus. Jefferson's condensed composition is especially notable for its exclusion of all miracles by Jesus and most mentions of the supernatural, including sections of the four gospels which contain the Resurrection and most other miracles, and passages indicating Jesus was divine.[1][2][3][4]"
Jefferson Bible - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia