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What is a Christian?

dfreybur

Premium Member
... (regardless of how old I feel some days) ...

When I was a kid we walked to school up WIND both ways. Because plate tectonics had not yet raised the hills.
When I was a kid we commuted on mastodons. Because horses had not yet been domesticated.
When I was a kid we carved our spelling exercises into sticks. With stone knives. That we chipped ourselves. Because cursive had not yet been invented.

You mean like that? ;^) The therapy for that is simple -

Then I go to lodge. Where I still AM a kid!
 

Classical

Premium Member
I like your comparison to a spectrum, and I completely agree with you. Right now, in parts of the world, there are various groups who the outside world would consider extreme killing each other because they disagree on their extremist views. The protestant reformation claimed so many lives over differences that most us today would consider so small as to be almost laughable. Prior to the reformation, there were Christians. Then, there had to be a new way to divide Christians, so we had Catholics and Protestants, or Lutherans. When the Protestants started disagreeing, we started seeing all kinds of new groups popping up, all of which called themselves Christians. I wasn't alive then (regardless of how old I feel some days) but I'm sure there were people claiming that those groups weren't 'real Christians'. Today there are so many different beliefs out there, some of which have titles, some that don't. As you said, they all exist along a spectrum. The problem with labels is that it requires a line to be placed on that spectrum that differentiates Christian and non Christian, and people disagree about where that line ought to be drawn. How light does a shade of red need to become before it is considered pink? Ask 10 different people and you'll get 11 different answers.

One minor correction. Prior to the Reformation, Christendom was still divided. You had the Latin Church and the Greek Church. Today, they are known as Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. That split predated the Reformation.
 
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NY.Light.II

Registered User
Exactly. Actions are more important than words.
Of course it's difficult. But, at least, person gotta "try" to do. Intention is important.

Christ-like behavior doesn't necessarily define the person's "Christian-ness". Ghandi shared simplicity and kindness with Jesus, but it would be incorrect to call Ghandi a Christian.
 
R

Ressam

Guest
Christ-like behavior doesn't necessarily define the person's "Christian-ness". Ghandi shared simplicity and kindness with Jesus, but it would be incorrect to call Ghandi a Christian.

The question was: "What makes...", so, I answered: "Actions". IMHO.
 

88DAM88

Registered User
Great discussion and good points brought up. Question marks seem to help. :) It is often statements with periods which confess rigid belief in a thought or idea and which bring contention to bear. What is meant by salvation? Messiah? Savior? Lord? Man? Divine?

The contexts of Jesus life was that there was no one bible or accepted "book" of the law, but letters, writings, scrolls, collected and drawn from long before they were run through personal sieves of judgment and personal beliefs to arrive at a far diminished collection which some would consider concentrated, while others might see it as restricted to the point of a control mechanism at one end or innocent ignorance as in a hoodwink on the other. I have found it important in my studies to discover the Aramaic language (Jesus native tongue) and the culture of the Essenes from whence he arose.

In The Healing Breath, acclaimed teacher and author Neil Douglas-Klotz leads listeners through some of Jesus most misunderstood sayings, the Beatitudes. He unravels the common translations (mistranslations?) and renders them as spoken in Jesus' native Aramaic to show how this seemingly simple set of statements reveals a profound source of divine connection. It was in this amazingly enlightening lecture series I first understood that the Aramaic language and culture have no concept of an afterlife, no idea of an external Heaven or Kingdom of God outside the self. And that for Jesus, the word prayer, did not mean petition or "communication" with an "other" as much as meditation and a return to a whole and connected state of being.

As Builders, words are important, as they "become the house we live in." I can see our words as bricks we lay, our language as ashlars.

I do not consider myself a Christian as it would seem a term denoting something that is not really decided on as of yet, but I definitely find delving into the study of it, along with other paths and wisdom schools to be enlightening and worthwhile food for thought.

Much to dwell upon in this thread. Thank you, Brothers.
 

coachn

Coach John S. Nagy
Premium Member
Christ-like behavior doesn't necessarily define the person's "Christian-ness". Ghandi shared simplicity and kindness with Jesus, but it would be incorrect to call Ghandi a Christian.
While it would be incorrect to call him this, it raises the question:

Which is indeed more admirable-valuable, being "Christian" or being "Christ-like"?

I venture to say that every single response will be heavily biased in the direction of the social conditioning that produces it.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
While it would be incorrect to call him this, it raises the question:

Which is indeed more admirable-valuable, being "Christian" or being "Christ-like"?

I venture to say that every single response will be heavily biased in the direction of the social conditioning that produces it.

The two are so close and linked I don't know if I could separate them. If someone found a copy of the Narnia series and worshiped Aslan would that person be a Christian?

So I'll firmly say it depends and I don't know.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
100% Christ-like. I know plenty of "Christians" that are terrible people. But then i know some Atheists that are very very Christ-like! I disagree @warrior! They are not interlinked.

Sent from my LG-H918 using My Freemasonry mobile app
It's interesting if you apply Coach's definition of Masonry and Freemasonry to the question he asked... then it becomes a question of membership vrs living true tenets; but I might be putting words into Coach's mouth ?
 

freemasonpha

Registered User
One minor correction. Prior to the Reformation, Christendom was still divided. You had the Latin Church and the Greek Church. Today, they are known as Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. That split predated the Reformation.

Very true but even within the Roman and Eastern churches there were 'other' Christians. Before the fourth century Christianity included a wide range of beliefs, it wasn't until the church had to deal with competing authorities that it became more outwardly institutional. It is i the fourth century that we find most of the dogma that make up Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
 
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