# 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:** 7
### Author:  [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/121 "2014-02-01T13:33:26Z")
> [@monavis](#):
>
> The FACTS are: Humans wrote the Bible, Humans called it the word of God,So even at the council of Nicaea, or other councils and that still shows that Humans decided what was from God and what was inspired. We can believe that God talked to Moses, or any one nowadays.but our belief is in a person not God!
“God is the father, Christ is the Son and Man is the Holy Spirit.” Although perhaps a non-standard view of divine Holiness, there exists the precept that human-kind shares the “self-same” spirit as God and Christ. Thus we would have “God is a Man”, so anything written by Man is the true word of God.
It’s up to us as individuals to judge, and to look in our own hearts for the Good that is there. “Love your brother as you love yourself” is the commandment, however I’m not sure all would agree that’s what makes someone a Christian.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/122 "2014-02-01T14:00:52Z")
From [the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christian)
> [@](#):
>
> 1
> a : one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ
> b (1) : disciple 2 (2) : a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3) : a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 1961
“One who professes belief in the teaching of Jesus Christ”-pretty much what I’ve been saying all along.
---
### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/123 "2014-02-01T14:11:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> From [the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christian)“One who professes belief in the teaching of Jesus Christ”-pretty much what I’ve been saying all along.
How would that definition not include Muslims, though?
After all, they, too, profess belief in the teachings of Jesus, uh I mean عيسى.
---
### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/124 "2014-02-01T14:20:11Z")
Fundamental question: Can a person define himself or herself as a Christian or must that person’s Christian-ness be accepted by someone else who is regarded by the community as a Christian?
---
### Author:  [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/125 "2014-02-01T15:31:00Z")
I believe:
- There is God, but it is formless and doesn’t interfere in sporting events
- Jesus, a man, provided instructions for living well and worshipping Him
- good works are not required for salvation, only asking for forgiveness of sin.
- Praying to Jesus is a good way to go about things
I’m in no position to call Mormons non-Christian if they say they’re Christian. Rocks and glass houses, etc. I have other beliefs about Christianity, the gospels, the Pope, Eternal Progression etc, but they don’t “form my Christianity.” For instance, I hate Gnostics and think they’re wrong, but that’s my human failing, because I’m supposed to love them, end of story. In that vein, arguing on Facebook is a sin against God.
Which I will commit right now:
Per the tangent, figuring out what Constantine thought about Christians [is not hard](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/179-7211189-6327238?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=constantine%20biography&sprefix=constantine+biog%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aconstantine%20biography). There are lots of records and everything. Someone will even [tell you](http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2011/04/132-in-this-sign.html). (Don’t worry, **tomndebb** , it’s not actually about “the sign” despite its title.)
> [@Der Trihs](#):
>
> A Christian is someone who calls themselves a Christian.
I agree with **Der Trihs**.
I don’t know why we should listen to a worldly Christian body about anything.
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> Can a person define himself or herself as a Christian or must that person’s Christian-ness be accepted by someone else who is regarded by the community as a Christian?
Anyone can just call themselves a Christian.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/126 "2014-02-01T15:49:11Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#):
>
> Anyone can just call themselves a Christian.
…or a member of the Illuminati.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/127 "2014-02-01T15:51:19Z")
> [@Steken](#):
>
> How would that definition not include Muslims, though?
>
> After all, they, too, profess belief in the teachings of Jesus, uh I mean عيسى.
Oh, well. If you can’t cite the major dictionaries for the meaning of a word, who _can_ you cite?
---
### Author:  [@WheatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WheatCat)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/128 "2014-02-01T16:11:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> Fundamental question: Can a person define himself or herself as a Christian or must that person’s Christian-ness be accepted by someone else who is regarded by the community as a Christian?
Both sides of the dichotomy are fallacious.
Unqualified acceptance of self-definition would lead to such absurdities as that a person who eats a pound of meat every day should be considered a vegetarian if he says he is a vegetarian. It would be similarly absurd for a person who calls himself a Christian to deny that Christ was a historical person, and that the New Testament contains any divinely revealed truth. And deference to the judgement of any number of people who hold the same view does not make the view any less absurd.
---
### Author:  [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/129 "2014-02-01T16:21:49Z")
> [@WheatCat](#):
>
> Unqualified acceptance of self-definition would lead to such absurdities as that a person who eats a pound of meat every day should be considered a vegetarian if he says he is a vegetarian.
You clearly don’t deal with many “vegetarians.” People do this all the time, about everything. Ergo, they will do it about Christianity.
---
### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/130 "2014-02-01T16:30:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> This. A Christian is someone who calls themselves a Christian. Trying to use any other definition always turns into a crossfire of various self declared Christians claiming that _other_ people who call themselves Christian, aren’t.
I’m not 100% in agreement with this - surely there have to be some criteria where we can say “Those guys are definitely _not_ Christians”. I mean, I have no hesitation in saying Jews for Jesus aren’t really Jews. Of course, I have no idea what those criteria may be.
But I think a “Christian” sect claiming Jesus was _really_ a reptile-man from Zord and he’ll send his Flying Polyps to come to take the livers of the faithful back to Zord where they will be bodily resurrected in His Holy Clone Tanks? That’s not really Christian.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/131 "2014-02-01T16:54:38Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> I’m not 100% in agreement with this - surely there have to be some criteria where we can say “Those guys are definitely _not_ Christians”. I mean, I have no hesitation in saying Jews for Jesus aren’t really Jews. Of course, I have no idea what those criteria may be.
>
> But I think a “Christian” sect claiming Jesus was _really_ a reptile-man from Zord and he’ll send his Flying Polyps to come to take the livers of the faithful back to Zord where they will be bodily resurrected in His Holy Clone Tanks? That’s not really Christian.
Why? Because that’s so much more unlikely than him being the son of the entity that created the entire universe? According to dictionaries, it’s about following what you think he teaches, not what his resume was.
---
### Author:  [@WheatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WheatCat)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/132 "2014-02-01T17:12:22Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#):
>
> You clearly don’t deal with many “vegetarians.” People do this all the time, about everything. Ergo, they will do it about Christianity.
The question is whether the self-definition is reasonable, and I hope we can agree that reason does not exist where something may be defined as its opposite, as in the case of a “vegetarian” who eats a pound of meat every day. If that is in dispute then we have nothing further to say to each other.
---
### Author:  [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/133 "2014-02-01T17:16:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> But I think a “Christian” sect claiming Jesus was _really_ a reptile-man from Zord and he’ll send his Flying Polyps to come to take the livers of the faithful back to Zord where they will be bodily resurrected in His Holy Clone Tanks? That’s not really Christian.
Why not? You distilled Christianity down to the core substance, just changed the paint. Like saying Romeo and Juliet in Da Hood isn’t really Romeo and Juliet. It might be a horrible derivative, but it’s still the same.
It’s like Muslims who call other Muslim sects apostates and heretics. I’m sure there’s interesting historical and ideological differences, but to me they all believe some goofy supernatural stuff about Muhammad and in the organizational part of my brain that trumps whatever other differences they have, so they’re all Muslims to me.
Darn splitters. 😉
---
### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/134 "2014-02-01T17:38:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Oh, well. If you can’t cite the major dictionaries for the meaning of a word, who _can_ you cite?
But you can see what I mean though, right? That the definition is tricky, because of the Muslim thing?
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/135 "2014-02-01T18:02:27Z")
> [@Steken](#):
>
> But you can see what I mean though, right? That the definition is tricky, because of the Muslim thing?
That is like saying the definition of universe is tricky because it includes Pauly Shore.
---
### Author:  [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/136 "2014-02-01T18:31:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> That is like saying the definition of universe is tricky because it includes Pauly Shore.
😕
According to the definition you quoted, a Christian is someone who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus.
Muslims profess belief in the teachings of Jesus.
Therefore, according to the definition you quoted, Muslims are Christians.
If there is something wrong with my logic here, please explain what it is.
---
### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/137 "2014-02-01T19:11:03Z")
> [@monavis](#):
>
> I would add that Monty is doing the same thing he accuses me of doing. Mind reading as to my intent.
'T’aint no mind-reading going on here, dude. Either you’re intentionally spreading misinformation–which has been refuted repeatedly on this very site and you have actually seen the correct information–or you simply can’t process a passage written in quite clear English or you’re emotionally invested in the malarkey you’re posting being accepted by others.
Three possibilities. No mind-reading required.
Advice: Learn what a fact is.
More advice: Read reputable histories.
---
### Author:  [@arielburns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arielburns)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/138 "2014-02-01T20:13:16Z")
> [@Steken](#):
>
> 😕
>
> According to the definition you quoted, a Christian is someone who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus.
>
> Muslims profess belief in the teachings of Jesus.
>
> Therefore, according to the definition you quoted, Muslims are Christians.
>
> If there is something wrong with my logic here, please explain what it is.
I think your logic is right, to go deeper, there is a common thread in mythos preceding the period of Christ that I’ve read about.
I think to truly answer the question posed at the beginning of the thread, one would have to admit it is probably a subjective opinion. This based on how many factors of similarity it would require (for each person) to satisfy a common system of belief.
I could call myself a Christian because I believe in the power within the message of Christ, but I could also call myself a pagan because I honor the mythos in some of the esoteric writings that preceded Christ, and some after as well. I like to keep it open, because I find that sometimes I benefit from spiritual lessons of varying cultures depending on where I’m at. When in Rome, etc. I guess I really identify myself as both. But that probably doesn’t sit well with a lot of people and that I really don’t understand. It’s my soul, after all.
---
### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/139 "2014-02-01T20:58:00Z")
> [@Steken](#):
>
> 😕
>
> According to the definition you quoted, a Christian is someone who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus.
>
> Muslims profess belief in the teachings of Jesus.
>
> Therefore, according to the definition you quoted, Muslims are Christians.
>
> If there is something wrong with my logic here, please explain what it is.
I’ll probably be corrected by someone more knowledgeable, but it’s my understanding that Moslems believe in Jesus, but **not** in Jesus Christ, in the sense they believe he was a great prophet (not **the** greatest, of course), but not the Messiah. Christ is a title, not a last name. So, yes, Moslems believe in the teachings of Jesus (no idea whether all the teachings or some of them), but they still aren’t **Christ** ians.
---
### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009/140 "2014-02-01T21:09:17Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> I’ll probably be corrected by someone more knowledgeable, but it’s my understanding that Moslems believe in Jesus, but **not** in Jesus Christ, in the sense they believe he was a great prophet (not **the** greatest, of course), but not the Messiah. Christ is a title, not a last name. So, yes, Moslems believe in the teachings of Jesus (no idea whether all the teachings or some of them), but they still aren’t **Christ** ians.
So one is not a Christian if they don’t believe Jesus was the Christ.
That sort of resonates with me.
Wonder how this thread would have been different if it had been titled “Can you be a Christian if you don’t believe Jesus was the Christ?”
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009.md?page=6)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-christian/680009.md?page=8)