| Jul 29 @ 10:58 AM |
What makes a Christian a Christian?
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yashaenka
Posts: 4,639
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First Christianity is not one religion there are a series of religions that fall under the umbrella of Christianity.Some of these predate the time of Christ but that would require reading actual history to learn the facts something Christians are not inclined to do.
Christianity is massively varied and has been back to -200 BCE.
Christianity is not a single, ancient religion. It is a series of religions all given the same name. Many assume that only modern Christianity to be what Christianity is. Some historical forms of Christianity have made more sense, and some have made less sense, than the Christian mythology that is common today.
?In the second and third centuries there were, of course, Christians who believed in one God. But there were others who insisted that there were two. Some said there were thirty. Others claimed there were 365.?
"Lost Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003), p2
?'Christianity' as a single religion is not 2,000 years old. A series of varied different religions, flowing on from one another, have all called themselves "Christian". Rightly so. But the beliefs and form has changed so much from time to time that it is best to consider Christianity a series of religions and the word "Christianity" to be an umbrella term for multiple faiths all of which have the same name but different beliefs.?
"History of Christianity" by Vexen Crabtree (2003)
Unfortunately for hundreds of years until the Enlightenment, it was thought that modern-day Christianity in its various forms, represented early Christianity. It hardly does. Not only is Christianity now varied, but it has always been highly varied. Source
http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/christianity_types.html
So much for the neo version of evangelical Christianity that exist today.
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| Jul 29 @ 11:28 AM |
What makes a Christian a Christian? |
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uncrazy
Posts: 1,539
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Yash,
The variation spoken of starts to become apparent when we look at history. I read that when we look at the stories of the characters, we can lose sight of the larger societal institutions in which they were acting.
The institutions, an example would be the Jewish temple organization, when studied, identifies roles and position that have become character names in the NT.
The roles and responsibilities of a temple member in the OT becomes a character with a name or a symbol for something.
The Gabriel in the temple became an announcing angel in the NT, and the temple priest named the 7th demon became the evil relieved by a miracle of Jesus.
Much history has been found and translated since the mid 1800s, but we still teach the children what stood for the record of events found in the holy books as the only accurate history even though the sources of its stories can be found in texts predating it by 1000-2000 years.
I've read authors that offered the general theory that the OT/NT present us a picture of the evolution of man's ideas about God, unique in that they are offered from the perspective of a unified group of people over an extended time. The story from our perspective is that their ideas about God unified the people, the story from their perspective was that they were unified for protection from intolerance, enslavement and external threats.
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| Jul 29 @ 11:33 AM |
What makes a Christian a Christian?
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Thor1960303
Posts: 1,887
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Jesus said that you would know a tree by it's fruits. That said, I've known atheists, Jews, Muslims and many other faiths that made better "Christians" than so called real Christians.
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| Jul 29 @ 11:38 AM |
What makes a Christian a Christian? |
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yashaenka
Posts: 4,639
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The version of Christianity that has been passed onto us is the Romanticized version for it was the Roman Legions who were tasked to take the new religion outward to all regions of the Empire, not Christians.
As I often said before the Christian Theology of present times is not the original form(s) of true Christian belief nor practice.
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| Jul 29 @ 11:49 AM |
What makes a Christian a Christian?
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uncrazy
Posts: 1,539
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Yash,
What we see today in the church structure would be the remnants of Roman imperialism. I found it interesting that the feudal system supported by the church was a form of servitude to the ruling class where people lost any control over their own lives and could easily be dominated by both church and royalty. All that was then required was a Donation of Contantine and the church now had the temporal power to choose and bless the royals or ruin them.
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| Jul 29 @ 4:57 PM |
What makes a Christian a Christian? |
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uab_5
Posts: 2,371
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Jesus said that you would know a tree by it's fruits. That said, I've known atheists, Jews, Muslims and many other faiths that made better "Christians" than {many} so called real Christians. 
Except for the fact that Christian is typically defined as:
a religious person who believes Jesus is the Christ and who is a member of a Christian denomination
regardless if they follow the teachings of Christ or not.
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| Jul 29 @ 9:12 PM |
What makes a Christian a Christian?
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Jankia
Posts: 9,171
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A Christain is one who believes in Jesus Christ being the son of God born of the virgin Mary.
Wander around some day and ask people what there religion is and you'll get few answers that say there Christain.
Most will say they are Catholic,Lutheran,Baptist,Methodist etc.
Christianity has always been a series of religions and always will be.
I notice alot of people bringing up the term "good Christain","bad Christain ",true Christain" etc but they are just labels for people that are actually sinners but know that they have to try harder to not be.
In my opinion thats what makes a Christain,one who knows his sin and prays to Jesus to remedy it.
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