Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Well, Jesus was a leader of a rebellious sect, so yes believing him to be a messiah is not a far stretch.
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What makes one officially Christian?
- Thread starter Smart_Guy
- Start date
Well, Jesus was a leader of a rebellious sect, so yes believing him to be a messiah is not a far stretch.
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
Raised Christian, worked in my aunties Christian book shop, attended Christian conventions, and then spent the last 15 year studying it.
Spent 30 years as a Southern Baptist, have studied Master's courses, best friend has a PhD in Divinity and I am an ordained minister.
Thana
Lady
Well, Nothing could have come next for Judaism except a Messiah since that is who they were waiting for so I think it's the only way for Christianity to exist. So not believing He's the messiah is kind of.. I don't know.. missing the point of the whole religion right? I don't know it's hard for me to understand I guess.
Spent 30 years as a Southern Baptist, have studied Master's courses, best friend has a PhD in Divinity and I am an ordained minister.
All that still doesn't make you a Christian now though, does it?
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
All that still doesn't make you a Christian now though, does it?
Not an ultra conservative, fundamentalist, orthodox...no.
I like to think for myself so...
Orontes
Master of the Horse
*
Hello,
Defining Christian* status, cannot be done by any appeal to sect, denomination or creedal criteria. Such would be to commit a hasty injunction: a logical error. It is a common mistake often made within Christian circles.
A Christian at a base level is anyone who believes Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (Christ).
*The word Christian is derived from the Koine Greek Christianos. It was meant as derisive. It's a clever creation of a Greek base and a Latin suffix. It could be read as the Christ-slave, or Christ-dupe or bumpkin. Early followers adopted the term, rather than running from it. From this context, one can see the Jesus movement quickly defined itself in terms of Jesus and claims of His messiahship, while the term itself was meant as an attack on the same.
Hello All,
In Islam, for example, believing that God is the only true god worthy of worship and Muhammad is his creation, slave and prophet, is what makes one officially and basically a Muslim.
What makes one officially Christian? I mean a Christian regardless to different sects, trends and denominations.
Please don't turn this into a debate among different Christian sects, trends and denominations. I'm looking for the most basic requirement to be Christian.
Thank you
Important note:I would like to have answers from Christians only.
Hello,
Defining Christian* status, cannot be done by any appeal to sect, denomination or creedal criteria. Such would be to commit a hasty injunction: a logical error. It is a common mistake often made within Christian circles.
A Christian at a base level is anyone who believes Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (Christ).
*The word Christian is derived from the Koine Greek Christianos. It was meant as derisive. It's a clever creation of a Greek base and a Latin suffix. It could be read as the Christ-slave, or Christ-dupe or bumpkin. Early followers adopted the term, rather than running from it. From this context, one can see the Jesus movement quickly defined itself in terms of Jesus and claims of His messiahship, while the term itself was meant as an attack on the same.
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Hello All,
Please don't turn this into a debate among different Christian sects, trends and denominations. I'm looking for the most basic requirement to be Christian.
Thank you
After people truly understand what following Jesus means, then the most basic requirement to be Christian is: baptism ( immersion ) - Matthew 28:18-20
Thana
Lady
Someone who identifies as a Christian is probably a safe bet.
Then all a Smart Guy would ask is, "Who identifies as a Christian?"
But that wasn't the question.
Tom
I agree with @Thana. If someone identifies as Christian they are as Christian as anybody else. They might be unorthodox. And there are many sects with tighter rules.You tell me
But there is no objective standard. Unitarian Christians don't even believe in Jesus' divinity, per se.
Tom
Orontes
Master of the Horse
Hello,
Following Jesus, and what that may entail, is a question of piety. I believe the base question is about identity.
Orontes
Master of the Horse
Hello,
Self identification is the natural reply. I agree. If one looks at the content of that identification: where one asserts "I am a Christian", then at a base level there seems to be a linkage of Jesus of Nazareth with being the Christ (Messiah), otherwise the word Christian doesn't appear to have any meaning. Filling out the content of messiahship is a separate issue and moves one into the arena of theology and christology.
McBell
Unbound
i agree.Not really. That's why they're non-denominational hehe
But if they claim to be Christian than they have to have some belief in Jesus as the Messiah, I think that's pretty much bare minimum for the label. Not that anyone is really going to dispute your claim of being a Christian regardless.
Except with the "Not that anyone is really going to dispute your claim of being a Christian regardless" part.
Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses for example are all the time being told they are not "real" and or "true" Christians....
Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
There is no universal test of christianity.
Every denomination has their own entry process into that particular denomination.
however not all of them accept that a person is Christian simply because he says he is.
Those Christian denominations that are trinitarian accept each others baptism as christians, but still have further membership requirements.
These forums are unusual in that they accept any professed christian from any church as Christian.
Every denomination has their own entry process into that particular denomination.
however not all of them accept that a person is Christian simply because he says he is.
Those Christian denominations that are trinitarian accept each others baptism as christians, but still have further membership requirements.
These forums are unusual in that they accept any professed christian from any church as Christian.
Thana
Lady
Well.. that's how it's always been. The newer sects get crap from the older ones.
Atleast we're not burning them at the stake anymore.
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
In my opinion, it would be a belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. That would be about as basic a requirement as I would feel comfortable exacting.
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Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
And yet there are definitely people who call themselves Christians who appear to have little interesting in actually following His teachings. I'm not going to say they're not "real Christians," but if we were to go solely by a person's behavior, there would be very few "real Christians" around. Also, there are people of many non-Christian religions who see Jesus as someone whose behavior they would like to emulate, but they don't see Him as anything other than a very good person, and don't consider themselves to be Christian.
Neo Deist
Th.D. & D.Div. h.c.
The same could be said of die hard, Jesus advocating, Bible thumping, in-your-face Christians.
These are the people that think they are 100% Christian, proudly profess it, tell you they live and breathe Jesus' teachings, but then pick and choose which OT laws they choose to follow. They will often quote the 10 Commandments, but then ignore the other 603. The moment they eat bacon for breakfast or wear cotton with denim, they are hypocrites.
Not arguing, just stating a fact.
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I guess for now Christians are Christians as per currently calling/naming themselves Christians. As long as a poster calls themselves Christians, I will have to accept their post.
I didn't mean to ask if there is a test in Christians' honesty. I apologize for that unintended implication.