Does a person have to believe in the deity of Christ in order to be considered a Christian?

Question

Consider the following words of Jesus Christ:

John 8:24 (New American Standard Bible)

24"Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

Please read the following view of a person who believes that the answer to my question is "Yes":

"I don't think that a person can repudiate the deity of Christ and call themselves a Christian because I think that the notion of the deity of Christ--God becoming man, God in three persons, one essence--is an essential defining doctrine of the faith. In other words, if you reject an essential or defining doctrine then you cannot call yourself by the title that is defined by these doctrines."

The full text of this passage is at the link below:

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5460

Answer 1

The interesting thing about the passage that you quoted is that in the original Greek, the passage doesn't say "I am He," but rather, " I AM." This clearly demonstrates that Jesus was applying the name of God to Himself.

Here is the Greek transliterated:

"Eipon oun humin hoti apothaneisthe en taishamartiais humon. Ean gar me pisteusete hoti egoeimi, apothaneisthe en tais hamartiais humon." (John 8:24)

A quick lesson about the Greek; the word "egoeimi" literally means "I am." Not "I am He." The word "He" was inserted by the translators to make it colloquial.

If someone wants to call themselves Christian, and yet deny the deity of Christ, they are deceiving themselves. I do not claim that Jesus is the Father. The Father is separate. But both are God.

The historic Christian faith demands that Jesus is God. Anything less is heresy.

I cannot join the Rotary Club without agreeing to follow their by-laws and standards. I can call myself a Rotarian, but if I don't pay my dues and participate according to the rules, they won't acknowledge me as one. Same with Christianity.

Answer 2

Most definitely yes.
In addition to Jesus’ specific claims about Himself, His disciples also acknowledged the deity of Christ. They claimed that Jesus had the right to forgive sins - something only God can do, as it is God who is offended by sin (Acts 5:31; Colossians 3:13; cf. Psalm 130:4; Jeremiah 31:34). In close connection with this last claim, Jesus is also said to be the one who will "judge the living and the dead” (2 Timothy 4:1). Thomas cried out to Jesus, "my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul calls Jesus “great God and Savior” (Titus 2:13), and points out that prior to His incarnation Jesus existed in the “form of God” (Philippians 2:5–8). The writer to the Hebrews says regarding Jesus that “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever” (Hebrews 1:8). John states that, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God” (John 1:1). Examples of Scriptures that teach the deity of Christ could be multiplied (see Revelation 1:17; 2:8; 22:13; 1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 2:6–8; cf. Psalm 18:2; 95:1; 1 Peter 5:4; Hebrews 13:20), but even one of these is enough to show that Christ was considered to be deity by His followers.

Answer 3

The essence of the Messianic faith is the belief that the LORD is One, and that Jesus is the LORD. The LORD is also the Spirit.

In Old Testament Hebrew religion, the name of God, YHWH, was too holy to pronounce, so they simply say Adonai (meaning Lord) instead. When the Jews translated the Bible into Greek, YHWH was translated to Kyrios (Lord in Greek).

The difficulty that the Jewish followers in Jesus had was how to resolve the fact that they only believed in one God - The LORD, yet also believe that Jesus Christ is the LORD.

Today, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Bahai all believe in Jesus, but do not believe that he is God. We cannot call them Christians just because they believe he is a prophet, holy man, misunderstood rabbi, or avatar of God.

The Deity of Christ is central to historical Christianity. If you didn't believe in that, then you were classified as a heretic. The Nicene Creed is the best place to start, since the entire Church was One when the Nicene Creed was agreed upon.

Answer 4

No - At the risk of oversimplification, an example of your logic would be a person can believes George W. Bush is president of the United States, yet that doesn't make him a republican. It's said the devil himself believes in the Deity of Jesus Christ and can quote scripture with authority, and yet I doubt anyone would think Lucifer is a christian.

Answer 5

Yes,Christians are followers of Christ! The word Christian means a follower of Christ!

Answer 6

Yes. In order to be saved you must accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the second person in the Trinity.

Answer 7

Yes.

Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Answer 8

Yes, I'm afraid that you have to accept the deity of Christ, otherwise, you're only accepting a part of the trinity, and that's not possible to do. The bible also says that the only way you can come to God is through Jesus, so, how would you get through him without acknowledging his deity?

Answer 9

Absolutely yes to be called a Christian I have to believe in the deity of Christ.

Answer 10

Who do you mean by Christ??? If it is simply Jesus, then no, Jewish people "believe" in Jesus too but the main thing that separates Christianity from Judaism is that Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and Jews believe that he is just a regular man