="TheBarrd, post: 67540247, member: 374728"]There has been a lot of confusion since CF made it's ruling that Mormons and JWs are not valid Christian faiths.
There has been anger and hurt feelings...and accusations flung back and forth.
Many of us feel that this decision was right and proper. There are basic tenets of Christianity that simply may not be compromised.
Many others feel that the decision was unfair. They feel that, as long as someone believes in Jesus he or she is a Christian, regardless what other strange doctrines he/she might hold.
Wdo you think?
You didn't ask how truth is verified. You asked what the definition of Christian is.
Where'd you get the idea that the Creed is considered to be either inspired, sacred, or Scripture?
DUH,
Your not familiar with what the bible says & teaches????? The Creeds are biblically grounded!
By what authority do you feel you have the right understanding of God? It doesn't bother you that for your belief to exist that a group of men had to come together and debate the very nature of God? And then you have the arrogance to tell me you have it right?It's quite simple,
There is but One true God
That One God both the same in the Old and New Testaments insisted on ONE set of Faith beliefs: Mt. 16:18-19 "MY CHURCH" singular and Eph. 4: 1-7
While these meeting hall faiths use the same language as do we Catholics and Christians; they do NOT have the same understanding of the terms. Duplicitous in intent????? Nevertheless, NOT the same Jesus, Chirst or even God that we believe in .
Denial of God is the one unforgivable sin; so SADLY, these folks are in need of repentance and conversion:
Mark 1:15
And saying: The time is accomplished, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel.
John 3:5
Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.
In the END [frist & final Judgment] ONLY what God believes is relative: AMEN!
Patrick
If one can acknowledge how all the denominations of Christianity manufacture their own interpretations of scripture to define their own understandings and how all of these interpretations are manufactured by men, they are all fallible to begin with. Even the Nicene Creed which was developed by man 300 years after Jesus died, has been changed and adapted by man.
Bottom line, if a person believe in Jesus as God and they are seeking outside acceptance of them being a true Christian, there will always be certain groups, telling them they are not, because they don't follow the same exact creeds as they do.
Beliefs are personal phenomenon and those who seek approval of theirs from others, likely are insecure in their beliefs. The same would also apply to those groups telling those who disagree, they don't belong.
Dear man, I am very happy to see you posting here and sharing your opinions with us.
However, I kind of wonder how you, an atheist, could understand how precious the basic tenets of our faith are to those of us who are Christians.
It is true, we have endless debates over such things as whether or not to play an instrument in the worship service, how wet one must get before he/she is baptized and whether it is important that he be dipped backwards into the water or may he go face first, what day is the Sabbath and what day we ought to worship, how often we should take the Lord's Supper...oh, a myriad of such minor details that people tend to get emotional over.
However, there are a few basic things that every Christian holds dear...one of these is that God is unique. There is only ONE God. There can be no other beside Him.
Another is the Godhead, or what is commonly referred to as the "Trinity". As it teaches in the Gospel of John, Jesus was with God from the beginning, and Jesus is God. Nothing was created without Jesus, and through Him was everything created. He is the Word, or Logos...in a sense, He is the power of God. Jesus is Divine. The Godhead also includes the Holy Spirit...that part of the Godhead that literally comes to dwell within every Christian. It is the Holy Spirit that writes God's law within us, as was promised long ago by the prophet Jeremiah. That prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.
Now, I understand that, as an atheist, you do not believe/have no belief/do not hold a belief in any gods, and I am not trying to convert you here. I kind of like you, actually, and it does make me a bit sad that you have decided as you have, but I have too much respect for you for that.
I'm just trying to point out to you why it is that traditional Christians do not accept Mormons, with their notion that God was once a man who was born on another world and who was elevated to his godhood by the god of that world, who obtained his godhood in the same way from yet anther god, who...ad infinitum.
And why traditional Christians also do not accept JWs who believe that Jesus is "a god"...totally separate from God the Father, Jesus is a sort of "lesser god".
Hopefully, knowing this will help you to understand us a little better....
Well, they follow someone they think to be Jesus but who is not the being that virtually all Christians believe to be Jesus. Should that count?
IOW, it's like saying that you believe in Satan--the Martian who brings candy to children on Christmas Eve. Is that Satan...or is it something/someone else to whom certain people have given Satan's name?
8
Very simple answer:
I was a Christian for 40 years and have studied the NT thoroughly in regards to investigating the work of NT scholars and historians and likely much more so than most Christians.
So, anyone can have knowledge of a theology and how different sects have different philosophies of their theology, by spending a lot of time as one yourself and also studying the same.
For you to think because I am an atheist now demonstrates I can't have a valid opinion about the same, is quite naïve.
Oh, yeah...I had almost forgotten about that...the night he ate my brother's special brownies...Well there was the night Santa went crazy.
-CryptoLutheran
A Martian who brings candy to children on Christmas Eve named Satan?
Albion, did someone spike your orange juice this morning?
No...but there was a time when I was a fan of my kid brother's brownies...Not a Weird Al fan I see
-CryptoLutheran