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What A Christian?
- Thread starter Pozessed
- Start date
A Christian is a person who follows (to the best of their ability) the teachings of Jesus. That includes but is not limited to: Loving God, loving your neighbor, loving your enemies (which Jesus quoted from the teachings that are now included in the Old Testament), showing mercy, forgiveness, judging fairly, praying privately (not out loud), feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, keeping charity you give to private, and so on. 
Some of the people in that thread in the link you posted appear to follow the teachings of Paul- which do include Jesus teachings, but also includes Paul's own teachings, as well.
Some of the people in that thread in the link you posted appear to follow the teachings of Paul- which do include Jesus teachings, but also includes Paul's own teachings, as well.
ImmortalFlame
Woke gremlin
A Christian is a person who follows the basic tenets and practices of the Christian religion, and believes the Bible is, in whole or in part, the word of God and that Jesus Christ was either God himself or the son of God in some form.
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
Or people who think of themselves as philosophical Christians, following the teachings but not believing in the divinity of Jesus.
Joshua Tilghman
New Member
There are many different kinds of Christians. For example, the majority of Christians are what I would term "traditional" in that they follow the basic doctrines put forth by either the Catholic or Protestant faiths. The "traditional" Christian viewpoint seeks to put faith in a literal person, Jesus Christ, and to believe that he was in fact God in the flesh who came to redeem humanity. This kind of faith believes God is a separate person form the individual. God is sought outside themselves. There are also gnostic Christians and mystics who put more emphasis on going "within" themselves, through meditation and self reflection because they believe God is to be found there. They usually quote Jesus as saying that "the Kingdom is within you."
It is interesting to study how many of the earliest church fathers, such as Origen, interpreted the scriptures through Neoplatonism, clearly more in line with mysticism.
After studying the mystic viewpoint, I found that many of the questions I had regarding God and the Bible (from the traditional Christian viewpoint), were cleared up and everything began to make sense.
I now believe the entire Bible was written by mystics!
It is interesting to study how many of the earliest church fathers, such as Origen, interpreted the scriptures through Neoplatonism, clearly more in line with mysticism.
After studying the mystic viewpoint, I found that many of the questions I had regarding God and the Bible (from the traditional Christian viewpoint), were cleared up and everything began to make sense.
I now believe the entire Bible was written by mystics!
ImmortalFlame
Woke gremlin
But that depends what you mean by "the philosophy" of Christianity. I believe in forgiveness, understanding and charity - does that make me a "philosophical Christian"?
I know the question wasn't directed at me, but I'd like to answer. No. Some of Jesus' teachings are the same or similar to other teachings of other faiths, philosophies, etc. I'll expand if you want to, I can't seem to right now (I keep trying to).
Christians are defined by those who hold to the teachings of Jesus which were passed down to the Apostles, which the Apostles passed down to their students, etc. etc. unto the present day. Conventional criteria for being termed "Christian" include the belief in the Trinity; belief in Jesus being fully God and fully man without hybridizing those two natures and without having 2 separate persons, one human and one divine, sharing one body; and a trust in the Bible.
Some not-so-well-known Christian bodies include:
-The Eastern Orthodox Church (which is made up of Christians from the ancestral home of Christianity: places like Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Antioch, Greece, etc. and also includes Christians all over the world, especially in Eastern Europe, with growing populations in Western Europe, Australia, the US and Africa)
-The Oriental Orthodox Church (which includes Christians from Armenia, the first nation to accept Christianity; as well as Ethiopians, one of whom was baptized in the book of Acts; India, where Christians were first evangelized by the Apostle Thomas; and Oriental Orthodox can also be found in Syria, and increasingly around the world, especially the UK and the US).
Both of these churches have kept to their beliefs without change for 2000 years, and can visibly trace their lineage and teachings back to the Apostles.
Also groups worth noting, and that have already been noted, are the Gnostics (a VERY diverse group of people, BTW), Roman Catholics, and Protestants.
Some not-so-well-known Christian bodies include:
-The Eastern Orthodox Church (which is made up of Christians from the ancestral home of Christianity: places like Palestine, Jerusalem, Syria, Antioch, Greece, etc. and also includes Christians all over the world, especially in Eastern Europe, with growing populations in Western Europe, Australia, the US and Africa)
-The Oriental Orthodox Church (which includes Christians from Armenia, the first nation to accept Christianity; as well as Ethiopians, one of whom was baptized in the book of Acts; India, where Christians were first evangelized by the Apostle Thomas; and Oriental Orthodox can also be found in Syria, and increasingly around the world, especially the UK and the US).
Both of these churches have kept to their beliefs without change for 2000 years, and can visibly trace their lineage and teachings back to the Apostles.
Also groups worth noting, and that have already been noted, are the Gnostics (a VERY diverse group of people, BTW), Roman Catholics, and Protestants.
McBell
Unbound
I define a Christian as any one whose religious hierarchy includes Jesus Christ AND claims the title/label Christian.
The thread this link was supposed to go to no longer exists.
Seems the title of the thread was coorect:
What-Makes-Me-A-Non-Christian-Mods-Gonna-Close-Move-This-Read-Respond-ASAP-Pls
Does kinda make a person wonder what game you are playing at...
Last edited by a moderator:
Pozessed
Todd
Aside from word play, do I seem like a person who plays games in forums?
McBell
Unbound
As a matter of fact, you do.
McBell
Unbound
This thread is all that is needed to show you play games:
Here are two more threads that show your game playing:
Last edited by a moderator:
ImmortalFlame
Woke gremlin
I agree with you. I think it's easy to define yourself into a "no true scotsman" scenario with questions like this, and so I often feel that when people say that a person who is uncharitable, unforgiving or generally a bit obnoxious doesn't qualify as a Christian on the basis that they "don't follow the tenets" is falling into that hole. That's why - for practical reasons - I would say that being a Christian is defined primarily by two things: belief that the Bible is, in whole in part, inspired by the word of God; and the belief that Jesus was either the son of God or some form of manifestation of God on earth.
As with most definitions like this, though, it really comes down to the individual, and as always I make an effort to try and assess each persons religious categories as individuals, rather than as belonging to a strict group. Still, when somebody says "I am a Christian", the two things above are about the only two beliefs I assume they have just from their self-categorization.
As for being "philosophically" this-or-that religion, I think you hit the nail on the head. There are lots of things in lots of world religions that I agree with, but that doesn't make me "philosophically" this-or-that religion any more than saying "I like French bread" makes me "philosophically French". The Bible says lots of things I agree with, but so do a lot of books from a lot of different sources.
Desert Snake
Veteran Member
If you identified as Christian it might. That being said most Christians I've met seem to require a belief in the divinity of Jesus to be called Christian.
Pozessed
Todd
Oh, and here I was thinking I was posting relevant thoughts with educated people to respond to them.
How are these games? What is the objective? What is to be won or lost?
Again, I did say aside from word games, what games do I play.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe a Christian is defined by the Paraclete.
I believe that is a serious problem and I am willing to believe the question is also but since it is worded strangely, you are not necessarily getting the desired answer from me.
Skwim
Veteran Member
Anybody who uses Jesus as one of the focal points of their faith.
nazz
Doubting Thomas
the person claiming to be one