Defining a Christian Identity

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You misunderstand. I don't know if my friend has made a secret choice between identifying herself as a Catholic or a Protestant. I know that she has refused to *express* that choice,

Are you asking her "Which church do you belong to ?"
Is that what you are trying to get from her?

I tried to express that she may accept some teachings from either group which she finds reason to believe from the Bible. And she may discard some teachings from either group that she sees no reason to have to believe.

She does not have to say "I am a Protestant" simply because she agrees that the Pope is not the head of the church or that Peter was the first pope. She simply believes a teaching without feeling the need to label herself.

She does not have to say "I am a Catholic" simply because she agrees that God is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. She simply agrees with this truth from the Bible. She does not have to say "Because of this I am a Catholic."

but I don't know if she has
refused to *make* it. She has seemed to rationalize her non-commitment
by attempting to deny the differences between Catholics or Protestants.
If I ask, 'Do you accept the spiritual authority of the Pope?', one should
answer 'yes' or 'no'. Either a person does or does not.

Maybe she can do that. But the only name she needs to call herself by is the name of Jesus Christ. And that is the only name she feels to lift up. And I agree with her.

After I read a book by Watchman Nee called "Assembling Together" and noticed a chapter in it called "Which Church Should I Join?" I was changed forever. After having understood that chapter I never again called myself by any denominational name.

This does not mean that I noticed no differences between so-called schools of theological opinion. I learned what was the biblical bases of distinquishing one church from another church. And it was not what I had been taught when I was a "Prebyterian" and a "Protestant".

I stopped calling myself by such names as denominational designations. This is the short version of my testimony about how to church together. Much is left unsaid. My point is that a Christian should not have to lift up another name beside the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are married to Him. She may say simply " I am a sister in Jesus Christ " or "I am a believer in Jesus" or " I am a Christian " period.

'Could be the beginning of a great revival in that area.'
--Sonship

Irish people would surely benefit (sarcasm intended) if they became
even more divided by their interpretations of Christianity.

I didn't get the humor there.

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Question: who may I ask is "GrampyBobby"?

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My point is that self-described Christians have chosen to interpret
Christianity in many different reasons. The more intellectually honest
Christians prefer to acknowledge and examine those differences.
The more disingenuous Christians prefer to deny those differences exist.

I can fully recognize the differences between those who say they are a Pentecostal church and those who say they are a Quaker church without myself having to claim that I am either a Pentecostal kind of Christian or a Quaker kind.

Refusing to be labelled simply is not refusing to discern differences in teaching.

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Your friend's objectivity and commonsense restrain her from dignifying manmade denominational, geographical, historical or ceremonial emphasis partitions by selecting one to satisfy anyone's practiced curiosity; or being vulnerable to being sent on guilt trips. She knows that human consciousness doesn't evolve from matter; and may quite possibly wish that she could ask you the question: "Duchess64, what would it take for you to change your mind about the existence of Eternal God?"

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"Are you asking her 'Which church do you belong to?'"
--Sonship

I have not asked her that question.

I think that this may be how the question you ask is coming across to her:

Ie. "What KIND of Christian are you ? "

Ie. "By which denomination do you go ?
Are you of the Catholic denomination or of one of the Protestant denominations."

Ie. "Which division do you designate yourself by? You have be divided. Christians are divided into divisions. And you have to choose one of these divisions. So which division are you a member of ?"

Now I cannot answer for your friend because I do not know this person. But if you were to ask me questions of the flavor that I am OBLIGATED to take up a divisional label, I would say that I do not have to do that. I may say that the only name by which I want you to know me is Jesus Christ .

And as I said before, this would be a step in the right direction.

Now I welcome your challenge to debunk what I am saying. But you have to understand that the New Testament is my constitution or my guiding document as to how I ought to think about such questions. I am not guided by political histories or religions traditions or socialogical conciderations.

How I choose to describe myself as a Christian is governed by the New Testament. I am now speaking for myself.

If you have a Bible or New Testament, and you wish to challenge this last post of mine, I would ask you to open up a New Testament first to the First Epistle of Paul to the church in Corinth, and I will help you, if I can, to get through this problem of denominational divisions.

And now I speak not necessarily for your friend. I speak for what God has shown me and many other Christians around the world about how to "church" together, how to assemble ourselves for a churching life most normal.

So.... does one who says they are Christian, have to belong to a certian group or religion to be a Christian?
What did Jesus do by example and teach?

Originally posted by galveston75
So.... does one who says they are Christian, have to belong to a certian group or religion to be a Christian?
What did Jesus do by example and teach?

One must belong to the Christian Church and not to the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Black Muslims to be a Christian.

Originally posted by RJHinds
One must belong to the Christian Church and not to the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Black Muslims to be a Christian.

And of course follow RJh completely? Lol.

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I'd ask them, I'd also remind you that anyone can call themselves Christian.
I cannot think of to many people here or anywhere else trying to pass
themselves off as Jehovah Witnesses, but many Christian.
Kelly

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"Richard Swinburne: A member of the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is noted as one of the foremost Christian apologists, arguing in his many articles and books that faith in Christianity is rational and coherent in a rigorous philosophical sense. William Hasker writes that his "tetralogy on Christian doctrine, together with his earlier trilogy on the philosophy of theism, is one of the most important apologetic projects of recent times."[1] While Swinburne presents many arguments to advance the belief that God exists, he argues that God is a being whose existence is not logically necessary (see modal logic), but metaphysically necessary in a way he defines in his The Christian God. Other subjects on which Swinburne writes include personal identity (in which he espouses a view based on the concept of a soul), and epistemic justification. He has written in defense of Cartesian dualism and libertarian free will.[2]

Though he is most well known for his vigorous rational defense of Christian intellectual commitments, he also has a theory of the nature of passionate faith which is developed in his book Faith and Reason.

According to an interview Swinburne did with Foma magazine, he converted from the Church of England to the Greek Orthodox Church around 1996..." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Swinburne

Thanks for introducing us to Richard Swinburne's pilgrimage from the Church of England to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

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My point to you has been it doesn't matter what we call ourselves, it is
only important who we are in Christ Jesus. Is He our Lord!? I can disagree
on several points of scripture; however, being right or wrong is not going
to matter to my salvation or the one I disagree with if Jesus is our Lord
and we are walking with Him in His Truth and Grace. It is our love of
God and man that are the top two important things we need to be falling
hard after. If you want to debate some minor thing, do so, but don't let
the small stuff become more important than they should be.
Kelly