Hybrid Christians

[smaneck]

Well, technically speaking Elijah didn't. He was carried bodily into heaven, if I recall. Somewhere in 2 Kings, the story says.

There are others as well. Neither Enoch or Melchizadek were supposed to have died.

 

[Booko]

There are others as well. Neither Enoch or Melchizadek were supposed to have died.

Ah yes, I'd quite forgotten Melchizadek.

 

[razeontherock]

Hey, no fair spilling the beans on Melky-tsadik

 

[SanFrank]

Just passing by... they do claim Christ was a messenger and follow Christ's teachings but deny reliance on His work of atonement... seems to fit your criteria in the OP.

No, we do not follow Christ's teachings. We follow Baha'u'llah's teachings.

That is why we are Baha-is and not Christ-ians.

In the same way, you do not follow Torah teachings. You follow Christ's teachings.

Really, this is not such a difficult concept, unless perhaps you are choosing willful ignorance as an option.

According to baha'i scripture, the teachings are the same. Such an obvious contradiction! Moving on to another worthier thread.

Source is bahai in London, Pg 92
"A friend asked how the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contrasted with the teachings of Jesus Christ. “The teachings are the same.” declared ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; “It is the same foundation and the same temple. Truth is one, and without division. The teachings of Jesus are in a concentrated form.

 

[Arthra]

Frank wrote:

Source is bahai in London, Pg 92
"A friend asked how the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contrasted with the teachings of Jesus Christ. “The teachings are the same.” declared ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; “It is the same foundation and the same temple. Truth is one, and without division. The teachings of Jesus are in a concentrated form.

...................................................

Frank,

One suggestion...when you quote try including the complete quote as in:

A friend asked how the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh contrasted with the teachings of Jesus Christ. "The teachings are the same." declared 'Abdu'l-Bahá; "It is the same foundation and the same temple. Truth is one, and without division. The teachings of Jesus are in a concentrated form. Men do not agree to this day as to the meaning of many of His sayings. His teachings are as a flower in the bud. Today, the bud is unfolding into a flower! Bahá'u'lláh has expanded and fulfilled the teachings, and has applied them in detail to the whole world.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 92

 

[Booko]

According to baha'i scripture, the teachings are the same. Such an obvious contradiction! Moving on to another worthier thread.

Such an obvious cut and paste hack job on your part.

Will you please stop misrepresenting what we believe?

It doesn't exactly enhance your credibility when you do this sort of thing. Stop for your own sake.

 

[Shades of Gray]

I can simplify it. You are either Christian, or you are not, no matter what you claim.

After all, assuming animals can talk... if a duck claims to be a dog, but walks, talks, and looks like a duck... he's not a dog, is he?

So it is with anyone saying they are Christian, but in the same breath deny Christ. There is no such thing as a 'hybrid' Christian.

Well said. Amen.

 

[dlamberth]

So it is with anyone saying they are Christian, but in the same breath deny Christ. There is no such thing as a 'hybrid' Christian.

I'm just the opposite. I deny Christianity, but I have fully accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

If there is a Hybrid anywhere, it's God Himself.

.

 

[steve_bakr]

This is a branch from another thread that I wanted to focus on. There were many commets referring to Christians who were in effect not quite Christians. What I am referring to is what I call Hybrid Christians. These include people that claim to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ while at the same time reget the claim that Jesus is the one and true Messiah that came to earth, died for ours sins and then three days later came back life and assended into heaven. Some of these hybrid Christians include; agnostic Christians, Christian Hindus, Christian Buddhists, etc... It doesn't matter which you pick they all stem from Christianity and most of them claim to still be Christians. Which brings me to my point; my claim is that you can't believe and not believe at the same time. In other words, who out there can make the claim (and defend it) that they are a Christian, but do not believe Jesus is the one true Messiah who died for our sins and was resurected three days after his death?

In the context of the OP, perhaps there actually are hybrid Christians, in the sense that they combine elements of Christianity with another religion. Whether this would be a valid way to what we Christians call Salvation is a matter for the Lord. There are, in fact, Christians who also practice another religion, most notably Zen Buddhism. There are also reports of a hybrid called Chrislam.

I am very friendly towards other religions and enjoy studying them. But as a Catholic Christian, I am required to recite and affirm the Nicene Creed, which forms the fundamental beliefs that even non-Catholic Christians affirm also, and this includes the testimony that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and that his kingdom will have no end. This testimony cannot be altered without creating something other than Christianity. As sympathetic as I am to other religions, I cannot hedge on the fundamental elements of my own faith. At the same time, I find I must allow that God's grace works in other religions in a way that may result in a very diverse population in Paradise.

 

[CaliforniaSun]

"Beware of Christians" Extended Trailer - YouTube

"Christians are people who busy themselves on Sunday."

 

[steve_bakr]

"Beware of Christians" Extended Trailer - YouTube

"Christians are people who busy themselves on Sunday."

Being Christian is a 24/7 opportunity.

 

[Vanderhaust]

I'm just the opposite. I deny Christianity, but I have fully accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

Would you care to elaborate? How does one accept Jesus, but deny Christianity?

 

[Vanderhaust]

In the context of the OP, perhaps there actually are hybrid Christians, in the sense that they combine elements of Christianity with another religion. Whether this would be a valid way to what we Christians call Salvation is a matter for the Lord. There are, in fact, Christians who also practice another religion, most notably Zen Buddhism. There are also reports of a hybrid called Chrislam.

I am very friendly towards other religions and enjoy studying them. But as a Catholic Christian, I am required to recite and affirm the Nicene Creed, which forms the fundamental beliefs that even non-Catholic Christians affirm also, and this includes the testimony that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and that his kingdom will have no end. This testimony cannot be altered without creating something other than Christianity. As sympathetic as I am to other religions, I cannot hedge on the fundamental elements of my own faith. At the same time, I find I must allow that God's grace works in other religions in a way that may result in a very diverse population in Paradise.

You started off by saying, "perhaps there actually are hybrid Christians" , and later went on to say, "This testimony cannot be altered without creating something other than Christianity". In my original post I simply asked if you could call yourself a "hybrid" christian and still be a Christian at the same time.

I believe everyone should be free to practice whatever religion they chose as long as that doesn't include doing harm to others. With that said I don't care if you wish to be a muslim-christian-jewish-agnostic, it doesn't matter to me. But would you consider someone a Christian if they follow a teaching that isn't of the bible? IE: Claim to be Christian, but ignore the bible and only follow the teachings of the Buddha or the Quran or some other religious text.

 

[steve_bakr]

You started off by saying, "perhaps there actually are hybrid Christians" , and later went on to say, "This testimony cannot be altered without creating something other than Christianity". In my original post I simply asked if you could call yourself a "hybrid" christian and still be a Christian at the same time.

I believe everyone should be free to practice whatever religion they chose as long as that doesn't include doing harm to others. With that said I don't care if you wish to be a muslim-christian-jewish-agnostic, it doesn't matter to me. But would you consider someone a Christian if they follow a teaching that isn't of the bible? IE: Claim to be Christian, but ignore the bible and only follow the teachings of the Buddha or the Quran or some other religious text.

I believe I inferred that the guideline for calling oneself a Christian is adherence to the Nicene Creed, which is the statement of the Christian faith. If such a one is also a Zen Buddhist, then they are a hybrid Christian. If such a one is a Zen Buddhist but doesn't believe in the Nicene Creed, they are more Buddhist than Christian.

 

[dlamberth]

Would you care to elaborate? How does one accept Jesus, but deny Christianity?

It's easy really. first, Jesus is not a religion. The religion called Christianity has all sorts of Dogma and Beliefs that I don't believe and even deny. Yet at the same time, my heart is in the Heart of Jesus Christ. He is my savior. Christian dogma and beliefs have nothing to do with my loving God.

.

 

[smaneck]

Frank,

One suggestion...when you quote try including the complete quote as in:

A friend asked how the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh contrasted with the teachings of Jesus Christ. "The teachings are the same." declared 'Abdu'l-Bahá; "It is the same foundation and the same temple. Truth is one, and without division. The teachings of Jesus are in a concentrated form. Men do not agree to this day as to the meaning of many of His sayings. His teachings are as a flower in the bud. Today, the bud is unfolding into a flower! Bahá'u'lláh has expanded and fulfilled the teachings, and has applied them in detail to the whole world.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 92

Abdu'l-Baha in London is not considered scripture in any case. Nothing is considered scripture in the Baha'i Faith unless it is written by either a Manifestation or 'Abdu'l-Baha. In this case what we have are the English translations of talks he gave in England for which we don't have the original Persian text.

 

[smaneck]

delete

 

[morningstar2651]

This is a branch from another thread that I wanted to focus on. There were many commets referring to Christians who were in effect not quite Christians. What I am referring to is what I call Hybrid Christians. These include people that claim to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ while at the same time reget the claim that Jesus is the one and true Messiah that came to earth, died for ours sins and then three days later came back life and assended into heaven. Some of these hybrid Christians include; agnostic Christians, Christian Hindus, Christian Buddhists, etc... It doesn't matter which you pick they all stem from Christianity and most of them claim to still be Christians. Which brings me to my point; my claim is that you can't believe and not believe at the same time. In other words, who out there can make the claim (and defend it) that they are a Christian, but do not believe Jesus is the one true Messiah who died for our sins and was resurected three days after his death?

If someone claims to be Christian, I'll take their word for it - it's not my place to decide whether or not they believe in God the right way.

 

[steve_bakr]

If someone claims to be Christian, I'll take their word for it - it's not my place to decide whether or not they believe in God the right way.

Good point.

 

[Vanderhaust]

If someone claims to be Christian, I'll take their word for it - it's not my place to decide whether or not they believe in God the right way.

This thread isn't about whether or not it's ok to be an a-la-carte Christian. Also, I have made it more than clear that I don't care what or how people believe in God or gods. What I asked is if you would still consider someone a Christian if they don't believe in the core beliefs that Jesus taught.