Who is a Christian?

[kwassa]

What is your personal definition of the term?

There is a great site called religioustolerance.org that has many good articles on the subject of religions. Here is little piece on the confusion around the term "christian".

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn1.htm

brief quote:

Range of definitions of "Christian:"

There are also many distinct definitions of the term "Christian" (pronounced 'kristee`ân). Different people have defined a "Christian" as a person who has:

1. Heard the Gospel in a certain way, and accepted its message, or
2. Become "saved" -- i.e. they have trusted Jesus as Lord and Savior), or
3. Been baptized as an infant, or
4. Gone to church regularly, or
5. Recited and agreed with a specific church creed or creeds, or
6. Simply tried to understand and follow Jesus' teachings, or
7. Led a decent life.

Following these different definitions, the percentage of North American adults who are Christians currently ranges from less than 1% to about 75%.

Within a given denomination or wing of Christianity, there is usually a consensus about who is a Christian, and who is not. However, there is often little agreement among members of different faith groups on a common definition of "Christianity."

and from another part of the site:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn.htm

brief quote:

There are also many distinct definitions of the term "Christian" (pronounced 'kristee`ân):
Most liberal Christian denominations, secularists, public opinion pollsters, and this web site define "Christian" very broadly as any person or group who sincerely believes themselves to be Christian. Thus, Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox believers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church members, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists, etc. are all considered Christian. They total about 75% of the North American adult population.
At the other extreme, many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants define "Christian" more narrowly to include only those persons with beliefs like their own. Or they might accept as a "Christian" anyone who has been "born again" regardless of their denomination. They might estimate that about 35% of the North American adult population are real Christians.

Different definitions on such a fundamental topic makes dialog and debate among Christian groups very difficult.

[supernova]

1. Oh, I'm very aware

that when I talk to a fundamentalist, they are heaping me, a liberal christian, upon the funeral pyre along with anyone else they consider to be "undesirable." It's quite appalling.

Thanks for putting this information together and welcome to DU! :toast:

[boomboom]

2. I thought

The definition of Christian was a person who believes Jesus is Lord. Within Christianity, or protestantism, there are different denominations that may have disagreement over a side issue or emphasis on a particular area of doctrine but the commonality was Jesus Christ. Faith makes a Christian.

[genius]

3. Someone who believes in and follows the teachings of Christ.

[vetwife]

4. Well

I fit in the category of number 2 and number 4.
I believe in Free will and its up to everyone to decide if they want to be a Christian or nothing or whatever. I don't shove my faith on anyone but I defend it.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Same here

God is the judger and not even Jesus judged others. I do believe in going out and preaching to people but I also highly believe they can reject it if they want and it's not what they believe. Freewill is a huge concept.

[Princess Turandot]

5. Faith & good works would be my short answer..

I think that to be considered a 'Christian' you probably need to believe in the divinity of Jesus, but also need to put that belief into practice, and that practice has a lot more to do with how you treat the world around you as it does in some 'personal relationship' with God.

However, I think you can lead a 'Christian' life w/o even being a Christian. I know some Hindus who are far more decent human beings than many nominal 'Christians' that I know. One of my college roommates is now an atheist, altho she was raised as a Catholic. She's a 'rationale science' type atheist (she is a scientist, which I think greatly influences her views in this regard) rather than someone who is an atheist because they are angry with a person in their lives, usually a parent, and religion is part of their anger.
She lives a decent moral compassionate life. If George Bush has a better shot at heaven than someone like my roommate because he has been 'saved' by Jesus, than I'm not sure heaven really exists.

[boomboom]

6. I think salvation will be up to God

Good works don't guarantee salvation. That's what the New Testament was all about. Good works are a moral and ethical way to live your life and will result in reward in Heaven. I do think that if you're truly a believer, good works are a natural result.

As far as who gets there.....it's really not our decision. God will ultimately judge hearts. Only He knows and only He can judge.

[Selwynn]

7. I don't have a defintion for anyone else.

I can't get comfortable with going to someone who says they are a christian and saying "I'm sorry, no you are not." That just seems wrong to me. It seems to be a personal statement that I cannot judge.

[fishwax]

14. well said

though sometimes I fall into that trap when talking to or dismissing right-wingers.

[pelagius]

8. I accept the ancient creeds as the basic statement of Christian faith...

...particularly the Nicene Creed. But I allow for a wide degree of interpretation as to what those creeds mean. I believe, by faith, in the virgin birth, but I'm not going to shun someone who doesn't and call them non-Christian.

In my view, though, the one non-negotiable is the Incarnation. The essential mystery of Christianity is that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. Again, I understand there are different ways of approaching this mystery, but if one is merely following Jesus as a good teacher or an ethical leader, Christianity loses its unique place among the religions of the world.

[kwassa]

9. and who says that Christianity is unique?

It actually is unique for other reasons as well, simply in the way that certain ethical teachings are transmitted, and the uniqueness of the stories of his life, as well.

To me, his divinity is unnecessary.

[pelagius]

10. Not to get in a dogmatic tussle here...

...but I'm curious why you believe that?

[boomboom]

11. I agree..

Maybe this is a definitional issue, but to me Christianity implies, or even more so, insists that Christ is Lord.

[kwassa]

12. well, you might not think me a Christian

I've been reading exactly how Christ recieved that Lord designation, primarily through the Gospel of John, and in fact how the Christian canon was determined. "Beyond Belief" by Elaine Pagels. John was the only one to insist that Christ was Lord, the synopotic gospels not reaching that far. She also discusses all the material that was rejected for use in the canon, such as the Gospel of Thomas, which has a very different take on our relationship to the Christ.

I only believe Christ as Lord in the metaphoric sense, that there are many other ways to approach God, and that it does not have to be through Christ. I also believe that there are many other divinely inspired teachers that are as valuble as Christ.

[pelagius]

13. I think of you as a seeker after truth!

And that's a good thing in my view.

Pagels and Bart Ehrman have have done an excellent job of familiarizing popular audiences with ante-Nicene Christianities and I read and recommend their work.

I would caution, however, that they're a little glib about how what Ehrman calls "the proto-orthodox" brought their views to the forefront, framing it primarily as political oneupmanship. May I respectfully suggest that the dogmas established at the various ecumenical councils represent sophisticated theological conversations that developed (and have continued) over many years, rather than "winner-take-all" brute force?

A more balanced view of early Christianity might be found in Justo L. Gonzalez' series on Christian thought. The volume that would cover the same time period Pagels and Ehrman discuss is:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0687171822/002-5726529-8230441?v=glance

I think this is the best book in the series, but he has volumes covering Christian thought up through the present day that are quite good.

[truebrit71]

15. Divinity isn't the main issue..at least not for me...

The fact that he spoke those words, and taught about tolerance and love and caring, that the weakest among us need the strongest support, the fact that he was beaten and crucified IN THE HOPE that we would be saved ourselves, is the ultimate testament of faith. His faith that we would follow his teachings. His faith that through his willingness to give up his own life we would understand just how important it was to resist the temptations of greed and selfishness, that the right path was one of being kind and generous to one's fellow man, that giving is better than receiving, that being humble is better than being boastful, that being principled is better than being deceitful.

I'm not so much hung up on the getting into Heaven bit, if it happens it happens, I am more concerned with being kind to those around me, to righting wrongs, and helping whenever I can. There's a good deal of Karma wrapped up in that too, and I am a firm believer that what goes around comes around, you reap what you sow. In other words, I'm not "being good" so that I can get into Heaven, that's just gravy, but if I can make someone's life a little better, if I can help someone who has nowhere left to turn, if I can give the gift of a smile and a laugh to someone who has nothing to be happy about..isn't that what Heaven's all about?

For me the holiest of days is Good Friday, not Easter Sunday. Christ gave himself up, suffered and died without ever KNOWING if anyone would follow his teachings, but KNOWING that if they did they would lead better lives, and that if enough people followed those teachings the whole world would be a better place. THAT is the ultimate display of Faith, and THAT is why I call myself a Christian.

[Selwynn]

16. See link included here. My defintiion is the second of the two.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=291x323

[Blue_In_AK]

17. I prefer to call myself a "Jesusonian"

since the RW fundy freakazoids have usurped the word Christian.

[JVS]

18. Someine who agrees with this

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Everything else is a matter of freedom

[FreedomAngel82]

19. A Christian is a follower of Christ and is Christ-Like

And also read Romans chapter six.

[elshiva]

21. Anyone who is a follower of Jesus not necessarily baptized