# What Makes a Christian?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [January 29, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009 "2014-01-29T02:12:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/61 "2014-01-29T21:20:12Z")
Following the teachings of the Christ, and sincerely attempting to live by them.
This means that Paulinists are not Christians (since Paul was a false prophet and an anti-Christ), Jesusists are not Christians (he was a very good, albeit imperfect, manifestation of the Christ, but not the Christ itself), theists are not Christians (since belief in a deity of any sort is patently incompatible with the teachings of the Christ), and non-socialists are not Christians (since crucial to the Christ’s teachings is universal love and brotherhood and compassion and support, which is incompatible with private ownership of the means of production and unequal distribution of social wealth).
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/62 "2014-01-29T21:21:16Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> As to what makes a Christian-
>
> Trust in the God of the Bible, OLD and New Testaments (Marcionites are not Christian);
> that Jesus is God’s Only Son, His Fullest Revelation, maybe even in sharing Deity with the Father & the Spirit (I will include Arians & Trinitarians, tho I think Arianism is a major misunderstanding);
> that somehow Jesus died to save us from our sins;
> that God then raised Jesus bodily from the dead & through Him offers us eternal life with Him;
> that Jesus reigns with God as Lord of everything;
> that the Bible is a reliable God-given account of all this.
>
> Personal commitment, a good faith effort to obey what God/Jesus commands, baptism into a fellowship, a practice of prayer & Bible study, & graciousness to others should our of faith in God/Jesus.
That’s Paulinism, not Christianity. Paul repudiated the Christ.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/63 "2014-01-29T21:27:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Works for me. Telling me you’re a Christian and expecting me to understand where you are coming from is equivalent to telling me a glass is full of fluid and expecting me to know what it tastes like.
And posts #60 and #61 prove my point.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/64 "2014-01-29T21:28:49Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> That’s Paulinism, not Christianity. Paul repudiated the Christ.
Here’s a perfectly good example of why this question will never be answered.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/65 "2014-01-29T21:32:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And posts #60 and #61 prove my point.
Yyyyyup.
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### Author:  [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/66 "2014-01-29T21:59:59Z")
I am very broad and inclusive in my definition of “Christian.” This is not because my theology is liberal, but because my vocabulary is practical. Given that many millions of people throughout the world believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the English language has a pressing need for a word to describe these people. And I think “Christian” is a far more convenient phrase than “people who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
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### Author:  [@arielburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arielburns)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/67 "2014-01-29T22:00:39Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> That’s Paulinism, not Christianity. Paul repudiated the Christ.
I tried to look that up and didn’t find anything. I have never heard of it. Can you point in the right direction for that information?
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/68 "2014-01-29T22:01:58Z")
> [@llcoolbj77](#):
>
> In its simplest, what set of beliefs qualify one as a Christian??
>
> I was on Facebook (mistake) talking about the new Mitt Romney movie. I commented that while I disagreed with his politics, I believed he was a good man… That he really walked the walk as a Christian. My friend’s brother commented that Mormons weren’t Christian. Huh?
>
> Is this like that “Catholics aren’t Christians” thing? Or are Mormons missing one of the fundamentals of Christian faith?
>
> To my mind, it’s pretty simple:
>
> - Jesus is the son of God
> - he died for the sake of man’s salvation
> - the path to heaven is to believe those two things
>
> Am I missing something? Don’t Mormons believe those things? Fight my ignorance here!
That’s Paulinism, not Christianity. If Mormons believe those things, then they’re no more Christian than anyone else who believes those things.
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/69 "2014-01-29T22:03:10Z")
> [@Lobohan](#):
>
> I would say you’re a Christian if you think Jesus was genuinely supernatural and that his death meant you were saved from something (like oblivion when dead, or Hell).
Actually, thinking that makes one _not_ a Christian.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/70 "2014-01-29T22:06:07Z")
Would supplying each type of Christian with the Bible of their choice and shoving them all into a Thump Off Cagematch Pay-Per-View be out of the question?
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/71 "2014-01-29T22:06:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Would supplying each type of Christian with the Bible of their choice and shoving them all into a Thump Off Cagematch Pay-Per-View be out of the question?
The Bible is a Paulinist, anti-Christian compiliation. Christians have no use for it.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/72 "2014-01-29T22:12:04Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> The Bible is a Paulinist, anti-Christian compiliation. Christians have no use for it.
For the benefit(deficit?) of those who want to know-[_Pauline Christianity_.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulinist)
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/73 "2014-01-29T22:13:14Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> The Bible is a Paulinist, anti-Christian compiliation. Christians have no use for it.
If you want to jump into the cage unarmed, you’re on your own.
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### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/74 "2014-01-29T22:15:05Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> That’s Paulinism, not Christianity.
Please expand on this.
> [@](#):
>
> If Mormons believe those things, then they’re no more Christian than anyone else who believes those things.
Methinks you meant “no less”.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/75 "2014-01-29T22:22:15Z")
> [@arielburns](#):
>
> I tried to look that up and didn’t find anything. I have never heard of it. Can you point in the right direction for that information?
Roughly, what he’s calling “Paulinism” is a belief that the overwhelming majority of what is considered Christian theology was actually created by Saul/Paul of Tarsus, including the supernatural nature of Yeshua bin Miriam. “True” Christianity, in that belief, is following only what the Christ said and did in the gospels, minus all the miracles and “Son of God” stuff.
I have never understood, however, how they can dismiss the New Testament as
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> a Paulinist, anti-Christian compiliation
and yet still believe they know the “real” Christ. Yanno, seeing as how all we know of the Christ’s actions and words scomes from it. But all the people I’ve spoken to who have held that belief have been just as strident and uncompromising as **SDF** , so I dunno, maybe they have tea with him or something. (I also have no idea why they persist in calling him “the Anointed One” while denying his divinity, but again, whatever.)
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/76 "2014-01-29T22:24:23Z")
> [@Monty](#):
>
> Please expand on this.
Paul repudiated the Christ.
> [@](#):
>
> Methinks you meant “no less”.
No, I said exactly what I meant.
People who believe such things are not Christian. Thus, being Mormon doesn’t make them any more Christian than anyone else who believes such things.
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### Author:  [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steely_Dan_Fan)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/77 "2014-01-29T22:25:35Z")
> [@andros](#):
>
> Roughly, what he’s calling “Paulinism” is a belief that the overwhelming majority of what is considered Christian theology was actually created by Saul/Paul of Tarsus, including the supernatural nature of Yeshua bin Miriam. “True” Christianity, in that belief, is following only what the Christ said and did in the gospels, minus all the miracles and “Son of God” stuff.
>
> I have never understood, however, how they can dismiss the New Testament as
> and yet still believe they know the “real” Christ. Yanno, seeing as how all we know of the Christ’s actions and words scomes from it.
The New Testament (or, at least, the Gospels) is about the life of Jesus. But Jesus was not the Christ. So what’s the problem with ignoring the Gospels, since they tell us nothing about the Christ?
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### Author:  [@arielburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arielburns)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/78 "2014-01-29T22:26:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> For the benefit(deficit?) of those who want to know-[_Pauline Christianity_.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulinist)
Cool, I kind speed read through it. It doesn’t say that Paul didn’t believe in the Christ, at least in that article. I’m interested bc I live in Saint Paul and there is a lot of pagan symbolism in our capitol that could be interpreted as Mithraism. It was said that Paul of Tarsus was a student of Mithraism…so,
sorry off topic, I just wanted to know if there were other sites that may talk about that.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/79 "2014-01-29T22:29:30Z")
**SDF** , instead of being all cryptic, why don’t you tell us who or what “the Christ” is or was, if not Jesus? And how do you know about this Christ, if not from the New Testament?
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/80 "2014-01-29T22:30:30Z")
> [@Steely\_Dan\_Fan](#):
>
> The New Testament (or, at least, the Gospels) is about the life of Jesus. But Jesus was not the Christ. So what’s the problem with ignoring the Gospels, since they tell us nothing about the Christ?
None at all. I’m sure you have other sources that tell you all about the “real” Christ.
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