Complaint Emails we have received about
our definition of "Christian!" (Continued)

	The Jewish Christians -- the only Christians prior to the arrival of Paul in the late 30's -- under the leadership of James the brother of Jesus, rejected the virgin birth, regarded Jesus as a prophet, and rejected his deity.
	Most progressive Christians today also reject the virgin birth, and doubt that most of the miracles described in the New Testament actually happened.
	Mainline and progressive theologians generally interpret the Gospels as including many sayings and activities of Jesus that never happened; they were added by the anonymous authors in order to promote their faith group's evolving theology.
	Even the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons believe that they "know" what Biblical Christianity is all about, although they differ greatly from each other and from other wings of Christianity.

So "biblical Christianity" is a meaningless term. One can only talk meaningfully about Mormon biblical Christianity, Jehovah's Witness biblical Christianity, Roman Catholic biblical Christianity, progressive biblical Christianity, mainline biblical Christianity, evangelical biblical Christianity, fundamentalist biblical Christianity, and others.... but not "biblical Christianity."
 

	People from California are called Californians.
	People who follow Buddha are called Buddhists.
	People who practice law are called lawyers

See how that works?  It's only as complicated as you MAKE it.

Defining "Christian" as a follower of Jesus is a fairly common one. The problem is that there is no consensus on what Jesus expects of humans. The Bible seems to be quite ambiguous on this point. If you don't believe this, then organize a meeting involving a Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, Assembly of God member, Jehovah's Witness, ELCA member, Mormon, etc. and ask them to reach a consensus on any topic -- e.g. who are saved? It will be quite impossible for them to reach a consensus.

Ask a Southern Baptist whether they are a follower of Jesus. The answer will be yes.
Ask a Jehovah's Witness  whether they are a follower of Jesus. The answer will be yes.
As a Southern Baptist whether Jehovah's Witnesses are followers of Jesus. The answer will probably be no.
As a Jehovah's Witness whether Southern Baptists are followers of Jesus. The answer will probably be no.

Our essays in this section present the facts:
- there are many dozens of definition of "Christian"  -- perhaps hundreds -- in common use.
- there is no consensus on which is the "true" definition,
- most people are supremely confident that their definition -- alone -- is the true one.

It is like "God:"
- there are many hundreds of definitions of God, including his/her/their/its name, location, attributes, expectations, etc.
- there is no consensus on what God's name, attributes, etc. are.
- most people are supremely confident that their definition -- alone -- is the true one.

 Home page > Christianity > Introduction > Who is a Christian? > here

 Home page > Who is a Christian? > here

 Home page > Glossary of terms > Who is a Christian? > here

or Home page > Religious Information > Who is a Christian? > here

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