What makes someone a Christian?

[Deleted12]

I have my own ideas, but I'm hoping to hear some other thoughts first before I share. :)

[1004srs]

To me - just a belief in Jesus.

[saraelise]

Yeah, I agree that believing Jesus is god makes you a Christian.

[Deleted12]

To me - just a belief in Jesus.

Like, belief that Jesus is God? Or belief that Jesus existed and that he was a man with particular insight into the nature of God?

[Jamanda]

I've been told my definition is too broad but I'd say:

Christian: someone who follows the teachings of Jesus and believes he was The Christ or Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures.

For me, I don't think it matters whether they think Jesus was a man or God.

Also, in some ways I think the Mandeans in Iran and Iraq are kind of Christians, except they think Christ is John the Baptist.

Which would lead to the broader definition:

someone who follows the teachings of a person they identify to be the Christ/Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures.

[Shirley MacLaine]

Someone who could honestly say

"I believe in God the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."

I mean, basically. Is that cheating? I feel like that kind of sums it up.

[duplessis3]

That makes the Lubavitch Christians, which I feel comfortable in stating - they would not like. I think (FWIW) 1. Jesus was the son of God, both fully human and fully divine. 2. The Holy Trinity. 3. Resurrection.

Paul says that a person has to believe in his heart that Jesus is Lord and profess with his mouth that Jesus rose from the dead.

[doggie]

Well Christians can't seem to agree on what makes a christian since we see so much of they are not a a true christian crap.

[dawbs]

To me - just a belief in Jesus.

This is always a little to vague for me.

Most atheists I know believe that Jesus existed, so it has to be more specific--it has to be a belief in something about Jesus.

My own definition is that it's a belief that Jesus was connected to the divine (not touching the 'was divine' or not bit) and his death was a sacrifice for sin.

That's as general as I can make it--which doesn't mean it's right.

[Boogalou]

Hmm, it's an interesting question. For me, what makes someone a Christian is if they, themselves, identify as one. Otherwise you begin to get into the whole problem of Catholics aren't real Christians, people who believe xyz aren't real Christians, etc. If you say you are one, you are.

[1004srs]

Yup. If you believe you are Christian, then you are.

:twisted: - add so my son could see it

[dawbs]

Hmm, it's an interesting question. For me, what makes someone a Christian is if they, themselves, identify as one. Otherwise you begin to get into the whole problem of Catholics aren't real Christians, people who believe xyz aren't real Christians, etc. If you say you are one, you are.

My only disagreement with this is that it's 'the default'--I think there needs to be a way to recognize a difference between 'culturally Christian' (ie, my parents say they're christian and that's what I've been told to say I am) and religiously Christian ("I've thought about this and I know what I believe--or at least I have ideas of the direction in which I'm seeking")

[celestial]

Yup. If you believe you are Christian, then you are.

:twisted: - add so my son could see it

Agreed. Though I believe Jesus existed and was a swell guy with many insights, worthy of our study and reflection, I don't believe that he's god (any more than anyone else is). So, I think Christ is great, but I don't feel comfortable calling myself a Christian, and therefore I'm not one. The church I grew up in was pretty liberal, though, and people had many different views on Jesus and the nature of the Bible, and still called themselves Christians because that's how they identified. No one had a problem with that, though I suspect it wouldn't fly in a more conservative church.

[Lillian]

Someone who could honestly say

"I believe in God the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, dead, and buried;

the third day he rose from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,

and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead."

I mean, basically. Is that cheating? I feel like that kind of sums it up.

Seconded.

[mirele]

Seconded.

I'm of the opinion that if you call yourself a Christian, you are a Christian. Even if you can't adhere to the words of a creed that was (a) put together some time after Jesus died (b) expresses a theology that's not present in the Gospels and © doesn't mention anything that Jesus actually taught.

Creeds are profoundly political documents and designed to divide.

[O Latin]

I guess I would go with the "if you say you are, you are" people, because I consider myself a Christian, but lately I've been struggling with what, exactly, I believe about Jesus and the Bible

[emmiedahl]

Not all Christians believe in the creed, though.

Perhaps you are a Christian if Jesus as the Messiah/Christ is central to your religious beliefs.

(adding with sarcasm): And if you think you know exactly how it all went down while everyone else is wrong.

[Beb]

I have my own ideas, but I'm hoping to hear some other thoughts first before I share. :)

So simple......if you hate everything that God "hates" (the way ZsuZsu does), then you're like God.....right? Of course, to see God as a hater is a bit .... uh.......twisted. :shifty:

[Shirley MacLaine]

I'm of the opinion that if you call yourself a Christian, you are a Christian. Even if you can't adhere to the words of a creed that was (a) put together some time after Jesus died (b) expresses a theology that's not present in the Gospels and © doesn't mention anything that Jesus actually taught.

Creeds are profoundly political documents and designed to divide.

Well, TBH, I don't really give a shit (and I'm familiar with the history of the creed) who is a Christian because I am not one and not bothered. But IMO you must believe at minimum in the Jesus/resurrection myth to be a Christian (maybe that's super arbitrary but that is what I think of as a Christian); perhaps there should be a distinguishing between religious and cultural Christianity? I do know plenty of people who would mark Christian on a census form who don't really GAF in daily life.

[Deleted12]

I think that in order to be a Christian, you have to believe in the divinity of Jesus.

I don't believe in the divinity of Jesus, therefore I am not a Christian.

[tropaka]

I think you are a Christian if you believe Jesus to have been divinely inspired - either son of God or God...I don't believe either, although I believe he existed as a man. So, not Christian.