When is someone not a Christian?

[Breathe]

Okay, it was a toss-up between putting it here or the Christianity DIR. I chose here because I'd like some suggestions from non-Christians as to what the person in question is.

Ok, so I know a gal who calls herself Christian. However, within her beliefs, she doesn't believe:

in the Biblical God ("and if he was real, he'd be NUTS.") She does believe in God, but not from the Bible, even approaching it as metaphorical
the Bible ("full of myths, and outdated rules")
in Heaven or Hell (reincarnation)
Jesus died for our sins, was resurrected, or performed miracles
Jesus was the Son of God any more than we are as humans
Trust Paul, at all
The virgin Mary was a virgin
in churches as useful
in the Trinity


She's said she is a Christian, though, just different-thinking.

So, when is someone not a Christian? Can someone not believe in ALL these, and still be Christian (to you)? Would this lady most likely be?

I know you don't need to believe ALL of these, btw, but I'm wondering where the 'disbelief' line is?

 

[emptybe]

She was probably brought up Christian and just can't seem to let go.

To answer the question, I believe you can be Christian if you follow Christs teachings. I feel that should be the only requirement. But if you don't believe the Bible where are you getting your info on Christ? Gnostic scriptures?

 

[Onkara]

Hi
So is it down to just following the teaching of Christ in the NT as if he were speaking to us today?

 

[Debunker]

Okay, it was a toss-up between putting it here or the Christianity DIR. I chose here because I'd like some suggestions from non-Christians as to what the person in question is.

Ok, so I know a gal who calls herself Christian. However, within her beliefs, she doesn't believe:

in the Biblical God ("and if he was real, he'd be NUTS.") She does believe in God, but not from the Bible, even approaching it as metaphorical
the Bible ("full of myths, and outdated rules")
in Heaven or Hell (reincarnation)
Jesus died for our sins, was resurrected, or performed miracles
Jesus was the Son of God any more than we are as humans
Trust Paul, at all
The virgin Mary was a virgin
in churches as useful
in the Trinity


She's said she is a Christian, though, just different-thinking.

So, when is someone not a Christian? Can someone not believe in ALL these, and still be Christian (to you)? Would this lady most likely be?

I know you don't need to believe ALL of these, btw, but I'm wondering where the 'disbelief' line is?

Your question is very opened ended. Whether your friend is a Christian or not apparently depends on you definition of a Christian or if you did not mean to say that, you did not say that your idea of what a Christian is was secondary to your friends idea of what a Christian is. What I am saying is that Christians and critics of Christianity have different definitions among themselves of what a Christian is. I would imagine this is the situation among all major religions of the world. What one believer in any religion will call flexibility or variability something that is non-orthodox. If you are looking for complete orthodoxy in compliance to Christianity, I doubt you will find anybody that meets that criteria, as is the case with any major religion.

in the Biblical God ("and if he was real, he'd be NUTS.") She does believe in God, but not from the Bible, even approaching it as metaphorical
the Bible ("full of myths, and outdated rules")

This part of your criteria is not representativity of he Bible God. The Bible begins with the Hebrew God, dabar which is a very broad term for God and your reference to "nuts" is not logically consistent with what the Bible teaches about God. Respectfully, I suggest your unfamiliarity with the Bible led you to your conclusion.

Your friend is just in reading metaphorical interpretation to the Bible, which you do not claim she is incorrect for doing that. Your objection is that the Bible is full of mythes and outdated rules. Both Jewish and Christian religion reduces all the rules, all the laws, and all the profits down to two broad rules. love your neighbor and Love God. These two rules are obeyed generally in light of compliance with the Ten Commandments. Of course, there is disagreement among all people what this compliance is.But your criteria of what a Christian "is" is very vague. This means you might not get the answer for which you seek.

The rules of the Bible are certainly not outdated. Which of the commandment would you like to through out? Society has used these laws for a very long time and can be traced throughout history, even back to Hammurabi in antiquity. These laws are great restraints on man's behavior and are not outdated today. Although this thread suggest these rules are no longer necessary, this would be an argument that would be difficult to prove.

in Heaven or Hell (reincarnation)
Jesus died for our sins, was resurrected, or performed miracles
Jesus was the Son of God any more than we are as humans
Trust Paul, at all
The virgin Mary was a virgin
in churches as useful
in the Trinity

The rest of your criteria of what a Christian "is"is also vague but unless you insist. I will leave it to others that are more interested in explaing the Christian point of view on your criteria.

 

[Debunker]

One more thing, would you give us a brief definition of what Dharmic Syncretism is. This would help know from where your questions and opinions are coming from.

 

[astarath]

Nope. Dont believe in the Gospel you are not a Christian

 

[Breathe]

One more thing, would you give us a brief definition of what Dharmic Syncretism is. This would help know from where your questions and opinions are coming from.

No thanks. This is not the thread for it.
And, if you read carefully, you would have been able to infer that these are not my opinions, but the girl in question's views.

 

[Debunker]

No thanks. This is not the thread for it.
And, if you read carefully, you would have been able to infer that these are not my opinions, but the girl in question's views.

But you did ask the question. It is your thread. How do you want us to answer your thread? I thought at first the thread was just more Christian bashing. Was my first impression incorrect?

 

[LuisDantas]

Why not simply answer what you believe to be the correct answer?

 

[astarath]

Probably for the best

 

[Breathe]

How do you want us to answer your thread?

Honestly, and clearly. I don't know, what are the options that I have here? I thought it was a rather straightforward question I asked (Being, "if these are what this girl in question believes, are they still a Christian, even if they consider themselves one, but have very different views doctrinally speaking?"), so if it's not, then please let me know what the answer styles you can provide are.

I thought at first the thread was just more Christian bashing. Was my first impression incorrect?

I've been here far too long (and am too mature) to play little Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Sikh, or Buddhist bashing games, and if I was going to do that, I would have been dealt with now by the mods.

So yes, your first impression was very, very incorrect. It's best not to judge people so wildly.

 

[Debunker]

I know you don't need to believe ALL of these, btw, but I'm wondering where the 'disbelief' line is?

OK! I see what you are asking now. You confused me with all the meandering around about what a Christian was supposed to believe. Apparently she did not consider what you thought was necessary to be a Christian.

The answer to your question as to where you draw the line in the sand depends again of your definition of what a Christian is. It is really not a very good question. One could be a Christian in behavior and ethics but not believe in Christ in philosophy. That is possible. One could in principle believe in Christ as God but live like the Devil and still be called a Christian. This is possible too. What is impossible is to answer your request as to where to draw the line in the sand until you define Christine. IMO you must be born again to be a Christian. That is where the line in the sand is for me.

 

[astarath]

To be a Christian is to be in Christ.

 

[Debunker]

Honestly, and clearly. I don't know, what are the options that I have here? I thought it was a rather straightforward question I asked (Being, "if these are what this girl in question believes, are they still a Christian, even if they consider themselves one, but have very different views doctrinally speaking?"), so if it's not, then please let me know what the answer styles you can provide are.

I've been here far too long (and am too mature) to play little Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Sikh, or Buddhist bashing games, and if I was going to do that, I would have been dealt with now by the mods.

So yes, your first impression was very, very incorrect. It's best not to judge people so wildly.

Yes, I see that your thread is not bashing anything. The question you ask is still very difficult to answer since there are so many Christian doctrines. Most all protestants beliefs vary from Christian denominations to compared to each denomination. There are hundreds of denominations and many Christians belong to no specific denomination. These people believe whatever they think the Bible teaches.

A main difference between the Catholic Church and protestants is the Catholic Church says it only has the authority to interpret the Scriptures. The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church and sets in the place of Christ and can forgive sins (I think that is correct but a Catholic Christian might want to correct me). Anyway, protestants believe any one of us can interpret the scriptures.

Christianity has liberals and conservatives and as many philosophies as are found in the philosophy text books. You have already had several testimonies of what Christ means to each person thinks about what a Christian is and indicates where each draws the line in the sand. I suggest you observe what each Christian says about Christ as these testimonies come in.

 

[Madhuri]

Hi
So is it down to just following the teaching of Christ in the NT as if he were speaking to us today?

This would count if every Christian followed Jesus' teachings. A lot don't.

My assumption would be that a Christian is any person who believe that Jesus is their saviour.

 

[Koldo]

First, let us look at the defition of Christian in a dictionary:

Chris·tian(kr

s

ch

n)
adj. 1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.
3. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
4. Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.
5. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.

n. 1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.

Of course if you take the description (2) by the letter then many people could not be regarded as Christians as they don't live their lives FULLY according to Jesus teachings. So i will add something to the definition to give it a broader sense of in what situation we can regard someone as a Christian nowadays, in my humble opinion:

-One who accepts the teachings of Jesus instead of other religion teachings.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So, when is someone not a Christian?

Whenever a person says it is so.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I've meditated on this quite a bit.

I think that a little misconception about God is just as significant as a huge mistake about God.

That being said, a person who seeks God will never fully understand God, so one who has a perfect confession stands on the same ground as one whose confession is imperfect or lacking.

So I think that there is no time that one is "no longer a Christian" based on belief.

 

[vannessangelia]

But you did ask the question. It is your thread. How do you want us to answer your thread? I thought at first the thread was just more Christian bashing. Was my first impression incorrect?

 

[diosangpastol]

Do you need to be a member of the Church to be a Christian?

Do you need to be baptized to be a Christian?

Do you need the Bible to be a Christian?