Christian Atheist?

[Straybow]

But if you know that what they're doing is wrong according to the teachings of the church, it doesn't make sense to blame them for your unbelief.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
Maybe they think Jesus wasn't the son of god but just a stand up guy.

Jesus was the man

just not the son of god.

[Heresson]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Christians would tell you that believing in the divinity of Christ is an absolute requirement for calling yourself Christian, so there can be no such thing as a Christian athiest.

If you want to deny the existence of God but follow the teachings of Christ, you're welcome in most Unitarian Universalist congregations. But you're not a Christian.

Antitrinitarism, Unitarianism is part of Christianity, no matter how much catholics, orthodox, prechalcedonians and most of protestants despise that thought.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Perfection
Well, the collective understanding of the term "Christian" determines who is and who isn't, It's kinda messu though because the definition is fuzzy. Often times because of this we defer to the person in question, but that's not the whole story. Certainly, someone who says the bible is a load of trash and Jesus was a total douchebag wouldn't be able to call himself a Christian.

I'd say this is a pretty boarderline case between where one would defer to him and where one would disregard his label.

A cogent post from Perfection!

[Dis]

Originally posted by Proteus_MST
Sounds like this priest was definitely no evangelical fundamentalist, because else he would have preached it to be the other way round
(i.e. no matter how good you have been you will be thrown to hell if you don´t believe in christ and no matter how many sins you have commited in your live, you will go to heaven if you accept Jesus as your savior)

That's what the handouts from the Jehovah's witnesses always say. Yes, I actually read those things they give you at your door.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Heresson


Antitrinitarism, Unitarianism is part of Christianity, no matter how much catholics, orthodox, prechalcedonians and most of protestants despise that thought.

Unitarian Universalism is different from Unitarianism.

[Perfection]

Originally posted by Lorizael
A cogent post from Perfection!

Sorry, I ran out of dick jokes.

[Deity Dude]

I see no problem with the term Christian Atheist especially since I consider myself a Christian Agnostic and by the way have had this argument with my wife who says you can't call yourself a Christian if you don't believe Christ is God.

I consider most of Christ's teachings an excellent code for a person to live thier life by and try my hardest to follow them therefore I consider myself a Christian.

[Perfection]

It seems to me that "Christian" here is being used in two senses. One as a follower of Christ's teachings, and the other a follower of religion of Christianity. It is in my experience that the usage of the term "Christian" insinuates the later meaning under most contexts.

Thus it would be deceptive to call yourself a "Christian" without further elaboration because that would imply that you follow Christianity, which you don't.

Perhaps you can get away with "Christian agnostic" if you do so in a context that divorces it from religious identify, but I'm skeptical that such a context can be used.

Personally I'd just say "agnostic" and maybe say, "but I think Christ is cool".

[Deity Dude]

Well I'd have to say you are wrong and so does the dictionary.

1. of, pertaining to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings:

2. of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ:

As you can see definition #1 refers to his teachings. Definition #2 talks about belonging to the religion. Usually the most accepted definition is first but even if they are equal it is obvious that a person can a be a Christian without being a member of the broad religion Christianity.

[Perfection]

Actually, the dictionary (dictionary.com/websters) agrees with me. You're citing its definition as an adjective but when you look at its definition as a noun:

"-noun
7. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.
8. a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ: He died like a true Christian."

You fail to meet definition 7 which supports my claim that you calling yourself a "Christian" to be deceptive.


Now as for my releuctance to the usage of the term "Christian agnostic" (where "Christian" is an adjective); I'll admit I don't think the dictionary provides the best support. However, I'll still stand by my criticism because while "Christian" an adjective may more commonly imply the following of Christ, under the context of religion identity the second definition (belonging to the religion,Chirstianity) would seem to be the one implied. You'd fail to meet that definition as well.

[Deity Dude]

it sounds like 7 is more to your thinking and 8 is more to mine. The point of multiple definitions is that they are all acceptable definitions of the same word. So you are correct, and I never disputed, that a Christian CAN BE someone who believes Christ is God or he CAN BE someone who follows his teachings. Your definition is not the only one but one of many and I believ the original question was CAN someone accurately cite themselves as a Christian Atheist? By definition 1 or 8 they certainly can.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Perfection
Well, the collective understanding of the term "Christian" determines who is and who isn't, It's kinda messu though because the definition is fuzzy. Often times because of this we defer to the person in question, but that's not the whole story. Certainly, someone who says the bible is a load of trash and Jesus was a total douchebag wouldn't be able to call himself a Christian.

Well said.

[Ben Kenobi]

you can't call yourself a Christian if you don't believe Christ is God.

Exactly. The trouble is you cannot just 'accept his teachings' without accepting that he died and rose again from the dead.

I'm not sure how you can say that his teachings were fine but deny the resurrection. It makes no sense to me. Christ said that he was God and that is a part of his teachings.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


Exactly. The trouble is you cannot just 'accept his teachings' without accepting that he died and rose again from the dead.

I'm not sure how you can say that his teachings were fine but deny the resurrection. It makes no sense to me. Christ said that he was God and that is a part of his teachings.

Again multple definitions for the same word are acceptable, maybe not to you but they certainly are in the English language. And I belive that one can accept most of one's teachings without being denied to be a follwer of those teachings. For example, I doubt every Republican accepts the entire Republican platform.

Acording to your Christian religion my belief system may exclude me from heaven which would correspond to one definition of Christian. But as a follower of Christian teachings and philosophy I am not really concerned with other people's opinions about my soul. I am just concerned that I try my hardest to behave in a Christian fashion and try to follow the Golden Rule.

Just because my belief system corresponds to one accepted definition and yours corresponds to another doesn't mean that only one definition is acceptable.