Defining Christianity In A Way That Is Acceptable To All?

I think the Apostle's creed is indeed man made (from a denomination I won't mention) and has lines in it that do not align with the Bible.
 
PeaceLikeaRiver said:
I think things like creeds are viewed by some denominations as "man-made" and so they choose to dispense with them. (That's certainly not my view, just reporting what I've seen on other Christian forums.)
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I know many denominations do that.. I generally don't look at it that way.. I look at creed as a way to keep us grounded on what we believe.. All the churches which deny creeds will have a statement of faith.. That is certainly man made..
 
Brian Kurkjian said:
I don't think I personally have an answer to that. Why are some so caught up in 'creeds' and whatnot? Why not defer to the perfect word of God?
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Because humans are creatures of habit.
Habit becomes ritual.
Ritual becomes tradition.

All religions have ritual tied to it. They form traditions that are hard to let go.

When tradition is kept ONLY for the sake of tradition, we have strayed from the path.

The King was against tradition for tradition's sake.
 
Brian Kurkjian said:
Why does #9 mention the 'Holy Catholic Church'?
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What Glomung said. Catholic was once lowercase "catholic" as not a title, but an adjective. It's a description of a single body of Christ--a single Church, not divided. The word Catholic is still used intentionally for that meaning, but has become a title now because of the great schism to the reformation.

In fact, members of the Anglican Church used to refer to themselves as Catholic, and they coined the phrase "Roman Catholic" as a sort of pejorative jab at Catholics who acknowledge the pope as the vicar of Christ.
 
LysanderShapiro said:
What Glomung said. Catholic was once lowercase "catholic" as not a title, but an adjective. It's a description of a single body of Christ--a single Church, not divided. The word Catholic is still used intentionally for that meaning, but has become a title now because of the great schism to the reformation.

In fact, members of the Anglican Church used to refer to themselves as Catholic, and they coined the phrase "Roman Catholic" as a sort of pejorative jab at Catholics who acknowledge the pope as the vicar of Christ.
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And to some protestants the pope is known by his official title only. Bishop of Rome.
 
Dave Lucas said:
And to some protestants the pope is known by his official title only. Bishop of Rome.
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Indeed, I have noticed it. Though I think what cuts is when I am personally referred to as 'Roman.'
I remember when I was speaking with a friend of mine awhile back (we both grew up in the same church), and I told him that I was in the process of my conversion, going through RCIA, leading up to being confirmed as a Catholic, he was angry. He used to call me by my nickname which a lot of my childhood friends called me, and he then kept calling me Roman. "Tell me this, ROMAN--why would you join a cult?!"
 
Please remember this is a thread about defining Christianity in general. Let's stick to what's good.
 
PeaceLikeaRiver said:
Do you feel that this definition of Christianity is the closest one that all can agree with:

"We accept as Christian any individual or group who devoutly, thoughtfully, seriously, and prayerfully regards themselves to be Christian. That is, they honestly believe that they follow Yeshua of Nazareth's (a.k.a. Jesus Christ's) teachings as they understand them to be. "

This was taken from the website religioustolerance.org.

They also sort Christians into eight approximate groups:

Roman Catholicism
Eastern Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches
Protestantism
Restorationists
Anglican Communion
Pentecostals
Others

Since this is an area that breeds such disagreement, do you feel this is mostly accurate? My person feeling is that it is, and that this website has looked to be accurate and fair to all.

Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/christ7.htm
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I don't care what box someone puts themselves or even others into. To me, if you believe the word of God and teach from it rather than dogma, I don't have a problem with calling them a Christian, but proof is in the pudding - or in this case, you shall know them by their fruits and the Spirit will bear witness who is His. It's the last part that clinches it for me, the Spirit. A LOT of people claim to be Christians but only in the sense they're not Muslim or Jewish to something else; that's not a Christian. There are Christians that go to church because they were brought up that way but never seek the Spirit's guidance or hears His direction; that's not a Christian.
 
What got me thinking about this was the thread about speaking in tongues and I wondered why that practice was so foreign to my own Christian experience, and it turns out that it kind of splits right down the middle between Christians who practice it and Christians who don't. And so I wondered what the absolutely unifying things were. It seems that the only thing that absolutely ALL Christians can agree on is that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was resurrected. And you might think, well, and He's God too, but Jehovah's Witnesses for example don't believe that. It's a shame common ground is so limited and the differences are so much more.
 
PeaceLikeaRiver said:
It's a shame common ground is so limited and the differences are so much more.
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Why is it a shame? There is only one truth and that is the Word of God written by man, inspired by the Holy Spirit, all 66 books, no more, no less. You get into the devil's territory when you start shaming that there is no common ground.
 
Brian Kurkjian said:
Why is it a shame? There is only one truth and that is the Word of God written by man, inspired by the Holy Spirit, all 66 books, no more, no less. You get into the devil's territory when you start shaming that there is no common ground.
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It's a shame that Christians cannot be more unified, and that what separates us seems to be so much greater than what unites us which is after all the most important thing.
 
PeaceLikeaRiver said:
It's a shame that Christians cannot be more unified, and that what separates us seems to be so much greater than what unites us which is after all the most important thing.
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That's because there are wolves among us who need to be sought out for who they really are. The enemy loves to divide.
 
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