Christians--Do Evangelicals Believe Everyone Else Going to Hell? (Jesus Christ, gospel)

[Dunemeister]

Originally Posted by Starfish

So where does that put me? I have heard of Christ and fully expect to be judged according to what I "do in fact know".
Am I a Christian, in YOUR opinion? Some Christians say I am, some say I'm not. What am I? Who is right?

I'll leave that sort of determination up to God (or uss_bigd).

[Comprehend]

Originally Posted by Ratiocinative

Read what I said. The name isn't important, understanding who Christ is and what he did is. If a Muslim converts to Christianity, but out of habit still refers to Christ as Isa, then he will still be saved because he/she has faith that Christ bore the punishment of his/her sins. Now most people who refer to Christ as Isa are Muslims, so they aren't saved, but it isn't because they call him Isa, it's because they don't trust him for their salvation.

It's also quite a predicament that Mormons are in right now. You say that you believe in the same Christ as Biblical Christians, but yet Joseph Smith's testimony about his vision stats that he was told that all current religions were wrong, that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith). Gordon B. Hinckley, your "prophet", also said these things:
Your religion's own prophets have said that they do not believe in the same Christ, and your religion is founded upon the idea that all other Christs are wrong. So to say you believe in the same Christ would be tantamount to condemning yourself as an apostate. Joseph Smith testified that in his vision that God told him that all current religions were wrong, which is the reason he used to found Mormonism. So if you believe that he actually had this vision, how can you now say that you believe in the same Christ as Biblical Christians, even excluding the vast number of contradictions between the Bible and the D&C?

Just in case anyone would like some help understanding what Latter-Day Saints believe about Jesus Christ:

JesusChrist.lds.org

[Izdaari]

Originally Posted by Starfish

Am I a Christian, in YOUR opinion? Some Christians say I am, some say I'm not. What am I? Who is right?

I would say you are a Christian, albeit a heretical one... but to be a heretic, you must first be a Christian. LDS have, in the opinion of we Nicene Christians, some rather odd beliefs about Christ and various other matters. But according to Romans 10:9-10, if you confess Him as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you are saved. It doesn't say "confess Him as Lord and have an orthodox theological understanding of His divine nature and of the Trinity". God does not expect us all to be theologians, much less perfectly correct theologians. It is enough that we do our best to follow Him, according to our best understanding.

Just my opinion of course. Only God's opinion really counts on this.

[Starfish]

Originally Posted by Izdaari

I would say you are a Christian, albeit a heretical one... but to be a heretic, you must first be a Christian. LDS have, in the opinion of we Nicene Christians, some rather odd beliefs about Christ and various other matters. But according to Romans 10:9-10, if you confess Him as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you are saved. It doesn't say "confess Him as Lord and have an orthodox theological understanding of His divine nature and of the Trinity". God does not expect us all to be theologians, much less perfectly correct theologians. It is enough that we do our best to follow Him, according to our best understanding.

Just my opinion of course. Only God's opinion really counts on this.

As I understand it, the Southern Baptist Convention says that LDS are not Christians, therefore hell-bound. If you are correct, does that discredit the SBC? Do you see the problem of inconsistency within the traditional Christian community?

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Izdaari

I would say you are a Christian, albeit a heretical one... but to be a heretic, you must first be a Christian.

Well, I guess that beats the alternative point of view.

LDS have, in the opinion of we Nicene Christians, some rather odd beliefs about Christ and various other matters.

What do Nicene Christians have to say about pre-Nicene Christians?

[Dunemeister]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

What do Nicene Christians have to say about pre-Nicene Christians?

Good bunch, baked good cookies. jk

Before the creeds were formulated and endorsed, the nature of the relationship between the divine in Christ to the divine in the Father was an open question. So Arians and Athanasians (as unitarians and trinitarians would come to be called) would both be considered more or less orthodox. Interesting question!

[Izdaari]

Originally Posted by Starfish

As I understand it, the Southern Baptist Convention says that LDS are not Christians, therefore hell-bound. If you are correct, does that discredit the SBC? Do you see the problem of inconsistency within the traditional Christian community?

From my PoV, I think the SBC is incorrect about many things. Overall, they don't differ from Izdaarian orthodoxy nearly as much as LDS, but I'd still call them heretical on a few points... in a loving way. And I'm sure they'd say the same about my unique brand of Emergent Pentecostalism. But despite our differences, I still call us (you, me and the SBC) brothers and sisters in Christ.

Certainly traditional Christians don't agree on everything, but I don't see that there's any real need for us to. We agree on the most important things, and I see that as sufficient.

[Comprehend]

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

Good bunch, baked good cookies. jk

Before the creeds were formulated and endorsed, the nature of the relationship between the divine in Christ to the divine in the Father was an open question. So Arians and Athanasians (as unitarians and trinitarians would come to be called) would both be considered more or less orthodox. Interesting question!

So, before a group of men had humbly laid down their glorious opinion about the nature of God, God could accept believers of either christian group but once mighty man had spoken, God had to respect those wise men and their determination and only "save" the Nicene christians.

Aint that kinda backwards?

All this time I thought it was God's job to do the explaining and ours to listen rather than the other way around...


Hey! God!... It's Comprehend down here.... I want a pony!!!