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LOL... I didn't want to put all thousands of possibilities... I figured those listed would give the greatest of differentials.Ticked all the boxes, apart from that last one
I recognise all of them as 'Christians' - just to varying degrees of affinity in sacrament and doctrine with the Catholic Church.
For example, the Greek and Oriental Orthodox are closest to us in ecclesiology and theology, followed by the Anglicans (who maintain the apostolic succession and other Catholic elements). Next come other Trinitarians - Baptists and Seventh-Day Adventists, with whom we share the sacrament of baptism, Nicene creedalism (as with Orthodox and Anglicans) and the same conception of God.
Finally, we have Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons - both of them still Christians in my estimation but more distant from Catholic dogma in terms of doctrinal understanding of the nature of God, divine revelation and Christology; yet we all share Jesus as the epicentre of our faith and life, the same New Testament - with Mormons perhaps closer to Catholics with regards understanding of the salvation of non-Christians, as well as rather similar in ethics etc.
But yes, we are all "branches" of the one olive tree
By the way, where are the Lutherans and Calvinists (missing from your options!)? They'd have been grouped by me just after the Anglicans. Also the Anabaptists would have gone side-by-side with the Baptists and Adventists.
And what do we know now?So... here is a poll
I chose to not check any of them for this reason. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven". In the above list, you will have those within those groups who "do the will of the Father", and those who do not, regardless of what they claim they believe or how religious they are. To check one of the boxes and say, "They are Christian" is misleading. Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them," not by their doctrines and beliefs, or religious identities.There was a good question that made me think.
So... here is a poll
Out of curiosity why? You may not be aware, but in my youth, I was part of that group for some years.Ticked all the boxes, apart from that last one
Out of curiosity why? You may not be aware, but in my youth, I was part of that group for some years.
Yes, which is why I didn't check any of them. That exists in all of those groups.To clarify, I view such people as Christians but I don't agree with their exclusivism - which is why I did not want to tick the box, as it strikes me as an un-Christlike attitude.
Easiest poll I've ever participated on. All of them. As far as I'm concerned, if someone professes to be a Christian, who am I to tell him he's not?There was a good question that made me think.
So... here is a poll
Easiest poll I've ever participated on. All of them.
It's the other Christians who refuse to include the Latter-day Saints under the umbrella of Christianity, Terry, not the other way around.I don't know enough about today's LDS to know whether or not they would open the big-top tent to all the other groups.
Context matters.It's the other Christians who refuse to include the Latter-day Saints under the umbrella of Christianity, T
erry, not the other way around.
And what do we know now?
And we can pretty well bet money on it that a JW didn't take the poll
I don't know enough about today's LDS to know whether or not they would open the big-top tent to all the other groups.
For the record, I ticked all of the groups solely on the grounds that they call themselves "Christian".
It's the other Christians who refuse to include the Latter-day Saints under the umbrella of Christianity, Terry, not the other way around.
Weird. I didn't even comment on the poll. I merely addressed your comment. I do know enough about Mormonism to know that my Church accepts anyone as Christian whose worships Jesus Christ as his Savior. But if you want to insist that I said something else entirely, Terry, knock yourself out.So, "the other Christians who refuse to include the Latter-day Saints under the umbrella of Christianity" are, based on this poll, 1 out of 8 people. Rejoice! Things are looking up for the LDS.
Meanwhile, thanks for telling me that you speak for all LDS when you say that LDS include all the other groups under the umbrella of Christianity. I thought they do; now, thanks to you I can speak more confidently and say that they do.
I chose to not check any of them for this reason. "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven"..
Did this person mean divisive or divided?I forgot to say "why" the poll... In another discussion, someone asked why Christianity is so divisive. My statement simply was "there are many parts but one body" and "divisiveness" wasn't that prevalent. (Though there are always exceptions with 2 billion adherents).
Thus... the poll
My understanding was "divisive"Did this person mean divisive or divided?
But I agree I think, for the most part, the various denominations nowadays manage to accept the existence of the others without getting their knickers in too much of a twist. It seems to me the divisiveness mainly comes in among the various splinter groups at the extreme ends of the spectrum - just as one finds with politics.
OK. I remember from my childhood in Scotland there was some tribal divisiveness between Catholics and Protestants (e.g. the rival Glasgow football teams), as there is to this day in N Ireland. And there is some divisiveness between Catholics and Orthodox in the former Yugoslavia. In both cases the religious affiliation is a label, signifying bigger cultural and historical differences between communities. I am sure this sort of thing happens all over the world, in all religions. I think one ought to set these to one side, because the aggro isn't really about religion, though religion is the channel for it.My understanding was "divisive"
If you are asking if these different groups should be considered part of the Christian religion, then you have to have some sort of standard by which you measure against, such as how close are they to traditional beliefs and practices. Each will fall somewhere on that spectrum, as a religious sect.that is a true statement... but I wasn't asking you to be God (or Jesus) to make that decision. The poll was simple..."generally speaking, what do you think?" - We all know that God will determine the heart.