What Does Being a Moderate Christian Mean to You?

Izdaari said:

It's for that reason -- that "moderate" has associations that don't really fit who we are -- that we requested a name change for the forum. As far as I understand, the change was approved but never implemented, for reasons unknown.

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Yes. That may be the most relevant comment yet on this thread. You remember that the name of the forum we chose was "Bridge Builders" which, if it had been implemented, would have eliminated hiumble1's concerns.

Since there's obviously been some "hitch" in making the change, perhaps all of us here should put Bridge Builders into the title section of our posts or threads so that others are not similarly misled.

I like the title BRIDGE BUILDERS, because it doesn't have the baggage that ecumenical has. Some conservatives see the word ecumenical as ecu-maniacal, uniformity for unity and watering down of truth so that heretics will be included. That is not the purpose of it, of course, but bridge-building overcomes that negative impression.

On the other hand, bridge-building also means wall-destroying, barrier eliminating and overcoming of bigotries and prejudice.

How do I propose that is done? First of all, we need to discuss what is really an essential. For me, non-essentials are things for which there is no consensus -- alcohol, Marianism, iconography, transubstantiation, etc. These we need to remove from dogma and relegate to secondary issues.

Essentials are things over which there is broad consensus -- Christ's sayings, the creeds, Trinity, etc. These bring most Christians together in common unity.

Koey said:

First of all, we need to discuss what is really an essential.

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I agree with you there.

'For me, non-essentials are things for which there is no consensus -- alcohol, Marianism, iconography, transubstantiation, etc. These we need to remove from dogma and relegate to secondary issues.

Essentials are things over which there is broad consensus -- Christ's sayings, the creeds, Trinity, etc. These bring most Christians together in common unity.

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and, may we add, those things on which our salvation might reasonably be said to depend--the identity of our God, but not most of the end-times speculation that some people get deeply into, etc.?

YAY! We are not arguing! YIPPEE! We are not calling each other names. WONDERFUL! We actually agree with each other! There is hope on this forum. YABBADABBADOO!

Albion said:

Yes. That may be the most relevant comment yet on this thread. You remember that the name of the forum we chose was "Bridge Builders" which, if it had been implemented, would have eliminated hiumble1's concerns.

Since there's obviously been some "hitch" in making the change, perhaps all of us here should put Bridge Builders into the title section of our posts or threads so that others are not similarly misled.

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Do you have a link to the thread where a name was decided on? Maybe I can find out what needs to be done if it's still a wanted change.

Here's the final poll thread: http://christianforums.com/t6392020-final-poll-for-moderate-forum-name.html

And here's where the winner was announced: http://christianforums.com/t6422328-bridge-builders.html

Great!

I'm starting a poll to see if this is still what the membership wants. http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=7103169

Returning this thread to it's original discussion.

I would describe myself as a Conservative Christian.I believe in the Nicene creed I am prolife against abortion except in extreme circumstances for example the Baby has died in the womb.
I believe that Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Sexual immorality is sin although I believe it is not for a Christian to condemn a fellow Christian because Jesus will return to Judge us all by our works.
I study the Bible,I prefer the NKJV but have several different copies.
I would describe myself as a Bible literalist and a creationist.
I do not believe in any part of the evolutionalist theory.
With my wife we read through parts of scripture every day.
We have not yet found a church we are comfortable with in the UK but we do follow the teachings of Charles Stanley and we tune it to Revelation TV in the UK.
I agree with the conservative views held here on this thread in general terms.
I would say that a moderate Christian would be similar to conservative christian,that is why I posted here.

Welcome aboard, lincolngreen!

You're right that most us here, though by no means all of us, are on the theologically conservative side. But the defining difference is one of attitude, not of doctrine. Some of the other forums are rather aggressively defensive about doctrine, and we don't want to be like that. This is a place where conservative Christians can meet and have substantive discussions in a friendlier atmosphere, but it's also a place where liberal and conservative Christians can dialogue safely.

Thanks for the welcome Isdaari
I agree with your sentiment.I do believe that we should be building bridges with our liberal and fundamentalist believers in Christ.
There are too many Christians that are quick to condemn others for their sins when they should be looking at the plank in their own eye first.
After all we are all sinners.

To me being a moderate Christian is probably different than most other folks...

I considered myself a fundamentalist until I figured out what a fundamentalist was, believed and thought of my beliefs. I believe in the truth first and foremeost because God is truth and can not lie, nor can He have any part of any lie. To me being a Christian moderate is using everything that God gave us to find and follow Him.

He gave us His word and the ability to fully understand what it actually says. That doesn't mean that we should make it say what we feel it should or must say, but take it for what it does in fact say and mean in context.

He also gave us His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. That means different things to different people, but the one thing that is the same for everyone is that God works in and through our lives through the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised us that He would leave us with the Helper or Comforter, and He delivered on that promise after He rose from the dead. Some people speak in tongues, others are gifted with the ability to teach or help others. Everyone has received the Holy Spirit who is saved, and the victorious Christian life is one that walks after the Spirit.

A moderate Christian is not a person stands on doctrines that hold that you must believe them in order to be saved. They may be true, but they can't save you. Moderates understand this.

On the other hand a moderate Chrisitan is not a liberal Christian who has replaced God's law with moral relativism. We may find some thing difficult to accept or understand, but we must be always willing to submit to God and ask Him to help us struggle the difficult parts, not give up on them.

[higgs2]even after reading what so many sincere and devout Christians have posted in this thread?

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Yep........

I'm just being honest...... I have no struggles with my belief in God or what Christ has done for me, none whatsoever. I do however, take a very lax approach to my "study" of God's word or even praying, but then I don't necessarily take a legalistic approach to my faith anyway. So I'm not in the least bothered if my prayer count is not particularly high.....

In fact I only ever pray for others because every aspect of my life is extremely blessed.

Shoot me........