am i a christian? (contradictions)

[handsome pete]

during a previous phase of my life, i believed that jesus was who he says he is, and i asked him to forgive me for my sins. i did so in sincerity.

i no longer believe that jesus is legite, i do not follow jesus, therefore am i or am i not a christian?

since these are generally considered to be equivalent definitions of a christian.

[Chaigidel]

you are not a christian.

though the icon will retain some power in your mind.

[handsome pete]

okay that's a blanket statement. i could get a random number generator to give equivalent responses. you've added nothing to the issue

i will not base my opinion on yours i will base it on your reasoning and the quality of your arguments. if people are reasonable they are going not going to base their own decisions on weight of numbers, that's hysteria.

[Chaigidel]

if you cannot call the man jesus a god, then you are not a christian-- simple, there is no arguement to be made; you have stated you dont think jesus is god, therefore you are not a christian.

the icon will retain power in your mind because it was in your youth, thus the image of redeemer will always be important to you even if you dont count the faith as your own.

a mans first faith leaves an impression that cannot be removed.

[handsome pete]

i agree about the impression part. what you say makes sense, bible says you must be A but i'm ~A (not A) therefore i'm not a christian. but the bible also says that B implies christianity and yet i know that i qualify for B. incidentally, most of my christian friends believe that i am a christian. partly i guess based on this description.

the q im really asking is not am i a christian but have i been saved

[Chaigidel]

all are saved, jesus said as much.

none come to the father save through me-- and what is jesus ?

the word made flesh-- what was the word? logos or love?

so by knowledge or love, you will find salvation.

[handsome pete]

i will find salvation?

do you mean to say that the definition of saved is strict and that being saved is different to being heaven bound? or are you saying that all go to heaven.

[Chaigidel]

Im saying that because you carry within you a spark of god, there is no where to go but to god; your shell will be cast off, but the life you lived will be in gods mind( because it knows all things it must live all lives with each of us, and remember otherewise information is lost to the all knowing; an impossibility)

but for all our wrongs and all the lives we touched we will share those sparks when we return, thus hitler had to share the lives of millions of victims before being allowed to return the spark of god--- for all you forgive you forgive god itself and all you inflict you inflict upon god itself; for it is within all minds and all things.

but the question becomes, what do you seek in salvation?

do you want to escape death?
do you want to escape hell?
do you want ? what do you want from "salvation"?

because it is not what you think it is.

[Strattios]

You are a Christian so long as you don't openly embrace another religion and still hold many of the moral values as taught by Christianity. You're just like me, a Secular Christian meaning that while you may not do all the holy stuff you still maintain most of the ideological values as well as celebrate the holidays. It's very much like being an American citizen. You can live other places but you are still a part of the identity. Just don't become some nut job yelling at everyone that still believes in the stuff. I was born a Christian and believe in the moral values, I just don't believe in God or Jesus and the only Church service I've been to was the funeral of a relative.

[Time Commander Bob]

Just think for yourself and make up your own choices about morality and philosophy wherever that may lead you. As was once said on this forum; labels are for soup cans not people.

[medivalmatt]

Eh, you might be Jewish...

[bthizle1]

if you cannot call the man jesus a god, then you are not a christian-- simple, there is no arguement to be made; you have stated you dont think jesus is god, therefore you are not a christian.

He's absolutely right...there's no denying what entails to being a Christian and what does not. The belief in Jesus Christ as the son of God (ie. form of God) or the lack there of.

a mans first faith leaves an impression that cannot be removed.

Any kind of convictions an individual has had at one time or another will have left an impression upon them, regardless of their current state of convictions.

[C-Rob]

Simple answer, go ask a priest(or whoever leads your sunday services) and see what it has to say about your lack of faith in Jesus. He'll tell you exactly what's up.

[bthizle1]

Simple answer, go ask a priest(or whoever leads your sunday services) and see what it has to say about your lack of faith in Jesus. He'll tell you exactly what's up.

How is he going to tell anyone exactly what's up? If a single person tells that individual that they are "Christian" without the belief as Jesus as the son of God (making him God) then they are doing so simply to try and keep them as a "member" of the faith for the wrong reasons.

You clearly are not "Christian" by definition if you don't hold Jesus to be so.

So, to rephrase what Crob said in a more realistic sense....Go ask a priest if you want to try and convince yourself by having him convince you, or hey may even say absolutely not (in which case he'd be right, that is if you indeed don't belief in Jesus as "divine").

[C-Rob]

How is he going to tell anyone exactly what's up? If an anyone tells that individual that they are "Christian" without the belief as Jesus as the son of God (making him God) then they are doing so simply to try and keep them as a "member" of the faith for the wrong reasons.

You clearly are not "Christian" by definition if you don't hold Jesus to be so.

So, to rephrase what Crob said in a more realistic sense....Go ask a priest if you want to try and convince yourself by having him convince you, or hey may even say absolutely not (in which case he'd be right, that is if you indeed don't belief in Jesus as "divine").

Obviously we dont' see priests in the same light. My priest is actually honest... I guess it's a rare trait for somone who should know the most about christianity of any one in the community.

@OP. Honestly you have a lot of gall to even consider yourself christain if you dont' beilieve the core of the faith.

That's like peanut butter without jelly, hotdog without a bun, wrapping without gift, a guitar without strings. It's missing a core element.

[bthizle1]

Obviously we dont' see priests in the same light. My priest is actually honest... I guess it's a rare trait for somone who should know the most about christianity of any one in the community.

Just because one knows something does not make them an honest person.

@OP. Honestly you have a lot of gall to even consider yourself christain if you dont' beilieve the core of the faith.

You just proved the point I've been trying to make this entire time.

It's not our place to judge you and tell you if you are or if your not a christian.

Ok, think of it this way.

When we call someone monotheistic, it's implied that they only believe in one God, however what/who that "God" is, is entirely up to them. When we call someone polytheistic it implies that they believe in multiple "Gods", however once again what "Gods" they believe in is dependent upon their own opinion. Now, when we call someone Christian, we are implying that they believe in Jesus' teachings, which included him being the son of God....so, that belief in Jesus as "God" is essentially what makes an individual "Christian", however their personal beliefs in regards to tradition, scripture, etc may differ.

So, in essence you're right, it's not our place to judge someone based solely off them being monotheistic, polytheistic, etc....however defining them as so is passing no judgment, rather it's stating a fact.

[Celsius]

during a previous phase of my life, i believed that jesus was who he says he is, and i asked him to forgive me for my sins. i did so in sincerity.

i no longer believe that jesus is legite, i do not follow jesus, therefore am i or am i not a christian?

since these are generally considered to be equivalent definitions of a christian.

It's not our place to judge you and tell you if you are or if your not a christian.

[Heinz Guderian]

It's not our place to judge you and tell you if you are or if your not a christian.

i am in agreement with this.

[Dayman]

i am in agreement with this.

It's not my place to judge whether or not you're a firefighter.

[Heinz Guderian]

It's not my place to judge whether or not you're a firefighter.

i like to dress as a firefighter. i dont hurt anybody by doing it. apart from that one guy. but he got into my beat up windowless van under his own volition. consent was a little harder to achieve. but bound guys in woods dont complain.