What Must a Christian Believe?

Great Debates
61

**Apos wrote:

I don’t see how Christianity, which implies only that Christ is central, means that one must believe the Bible is the only, the authoritative or even an accurate source for information about Christ. Especially not when some people feel they have a personal relationship with Him directly, a conscience and a guidance. **

Prehaps it wasn’t clear, but that’s not what I was saying. Going from the idea that the OP was asking for the minimum requirements for belief and the most readily available source (today) for Jesus’s teaching is the Bible, that’s why I mentioned it. FWIW, I view the Bible as the starting point for His teachings, not the totality of them.

Christianity, being an ideology, can in a modern form be everything that was, and more.

Prehaps. Can you point to any modern groups that are actively practicing these beliefs?

I think I made myself fairly clear in my first post. If you’re looking for a way to exclude people you don’t like from being Christians, that’s your beef, but for me, Christianity only implies that someone claims to put some conception of Christ central to their religious convictions. Vague, but that’s what a general definition needs to be.

I went back and looked over your definition and thought that it matched mine pretty well. I was trying to make a minimal, inclusive defintion, given the nature of the OP. Prehaps I didn’t explain myself well enough.

62

Apos,

My error on agnostic/atheist. I was thinking of my original item #2, and you were correctly responding to my original item #1.

My impression of Shelby Spong is that he is less significant and influential than you (and he?) think he is. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t consider his views, of course.

If you are saying I have an insufficient appreciation of the diversity present in the Roman Catholic Church–you’re almost certainly right. But if you are also saying that the doctrinal mainstream of the RCC would flatly reject my (amended) views, even as a vaguely-stated minimum–I can only say that I’m astonished.

Still, I appreciate the time you’ve taken to comment on my postings.