Can you be a Christian if you don't believe everything mentioned in the Bible is correct??
Can you be a Christian if you believe that part of the Bible is corrupt or unjust??
Can you be a Christian if you prefer others way than the Bible's way of life style or how things should be done??
I ask these questions because I see many people claiming to be Christians, but if you ask them about parts of the Bible, you will see that they disagree, or say that this is unjust, or say this is unfit for this century, or say this is corrupt, or I don't follow this part, etc etc
2007-09-02 20:08:27 · 25 answers · asked by Ahmed A 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
From reading some of the answers:
I think Christianity is just believe the idea that Jesus died for their sin and he is the only way to heaven. After that, do the 10 commandments and you will be a Christian. No matter how much you disagree with the Bible, and no matter how you live a lifestyle contradicting the Bible.
2007-09-02 20:26:06 · update #1
In answer to your question a Christian is a person who believes that the Christ child, Jesus is indeed the son of God. The Christian faith is derived from the belief in
Jesus Christ, the son of God. Anyone who believes in Jesus is considered a Christian. Although the Catholic Church substitutes Catholic in place of Christian.
As to the Bible. Many Christian faiths are based on the new testament, which takes place during the conception & birth of Jesus.
It was because of Jesus's birth that the Christian faith was born. It didn't exist prior to his birth. Jesus gathered disciples around him to help him spread God's message. There weren't any Bibles then. God's & Jesus's messages were spread by word of mouth. Jesus words & his parables & the stories of his disciples & others were slowly being recorded onto scrolls. Followers of Christ began calling themselves Christians long before he was nailed to the cross. Many of them met secretly & used the fish symbol as a method of recognizing other Christians.
In the days of the new testament it was dangerous for Christians to admit to being Christian. Christianity was formed during Jesus life. After Jesus died his disciple/ apostle Paul was responsible for the formation & founding of the Catholic Church.
Various interpretations of the Bible is what has lead to the large variety of Christian religions that have spun off from each other. Many of them conflicted with various interpretations of the scripture of the Bible.
The scrolls were written in Hebrew translated into Greek rewritten & reworded. Various translations of the scrolls were made. The printed version of the Bible is far different from the scrolls they originated from. Rulers such as King James ordered new translations of the Bible to be written. How accurate were all of these translations & interpretations?
Perhaps we will never know for certain. Powerful people are often instrumental in coercing others into doing their bidding.
People were too often blinded by their own greed or perhaps their own desperation. The offer of a purse filled with gold coins to do someone elses bidding was often all it took for a wealthy or royal person to get what they wanted.
If their bidding was to have the text of the Bible manipulated & they were willing to trade a purse of gold coins in exchange for this favor a poor scribe with a hungry family to feed would gladly have accepted.
Not everyone could read & write. A person who was fortunate enough to be able to read & write more than one language carried a bit of power themself.
What if someone with those abilities had their own ideas about things & decided while they were translating the scrolls to place their own interpretation on the scriptures & pass them off as a true interpretation? Perhaps they didn't do it with each scroll. Nobody will ever truly know exactly what happened. The only way we will ever know for certain is if a person capable of translating the genuine scrolls were to accurately translate them honestly: without bias, prejudice, malice, or an agenda of any kind. If someone could do this, then we may finally realize what is truth.
People everywhere are all entitled to their beliefs. Who knows or cares if they are right or wrong? They will know when they are at the end of their life if what they believed was wrong or if it was right.
It isn't for any of us to judge anyone else or their beliefs.
It isn't for any of us to cast stones.
Everyone has the right to believe in whatever they wish to believe & however they wish to believe it. Belief systems should be a personal choice which reflect what you want for your life. Most people believe in something, so instead of labels like Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Wiccan, Atheist, Agnostic, Catholic and etcetera. Why don't we all call ourselves Believers & be done with the bickering & nit picking?
When anyone asks what you believe in, just answer, "It is enough for you to know I am a Believer." That is all anyone needs to know about anyone or anything.
All of us have our own ways of believing. Atheists believe that God doesn't exist. Agnostics believe that if they are shown proof of Gods existance that they will believe in God until then they will believe in the possibility of God. Jewish faith believes in God & they believe that the Messiah has not yet been born.
Christians have an assortment of protestant religions all based upon the belief of God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit. The Catholics believe in the Holy Trinity.
Everyone believes in different things & in different ways.
Often the way we believe clashes with the way someone else believes.
Why continue to add fuel to the fire? There will never be an end to this ridiculousnous unless we conclude it here & now.
Instead of trying to make the entire world & it's people believe in one single religion ... Why don't we just accept the differences which make us all unique?
Let us all start referring to ourselves under a giant umbrella of a term. Let's refer to ourselves as Believers & keep our beliefs to ourselves instead of running around creating disharmony & havoc by attempting to convert people into believing the exact same way as everyone else.
This will never happen. We must all learn to accept everyone exactly how they are. We can not change the world & all of it's people. We can only change how we are in it.
I am a Believer & that is all that anyone needs to know. I haven't any desire to convert anyone into thinking how I think or believing how I believe. It's a personal choice. One I have chosen to live with.
2007-09-02 21:17:20 · answer #1 · answered by Positive-Pixie 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
So called Christians who do this...........I do not consider Christians. The Bible is our holy scripture. How can you be anything if you do not not even believe the scripture or you have to twist it to make it fit your needs? If you claim to be but practice any of the above then you need to re-evaluate the term faith and what the Bible stands for. Oh, you should probably either start going to church, start going back to church, or find a different church.
The part where you said "or don't follow this part, etc etc."
There is an exception to that. Christians study and learn from the Old Testament because it is our history and helps us understand the New Testament, but we do not follow it, because everything changed after Jesus died on the cross at Calvary. I hope you do not take this as hypocrisy, cause it's not. It is not that difficult of a concept to understand, and for some reason people have a hard time with this and just assume we took over the Jews scripture and made it are own. Jesus was a Jew.........Christians, most of them anyway, are descendants from Jews. We were the one and the same in the beginning, but after Jesus died for our sins, it fulfilled a prophecy. The Christians stemmed from those who chose to believe that Jesus fulfilled that prophecy and Jews are still waiting for their Messiah. Which unfortunatley for them, they missed that train when Jesus came. But they can always convert.
2007-09-03 03:43:25 · answer #2 · answered by Mrs. CT 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
A good Christian will study the bible line upon line, precept upon precept and rightly devide the word of truth. There is a such thing as dispensationalism (be careful with it, be very careful) and there are also a lot of professing christians who don't have the right idea in saying that the Bible is wrong. To be a Christian is to follow Christ. Christ is the incarnate word of God. the Bible is the written Word of God. The Bible is Jesus on paper.
2007-09-03 03:16:02 · answer #3 · answered by Matthew P (SL) 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
I believe that to be 100% Christian that you must believe the entire Bible. It is wrong to pick and choose parts that you believe and parts that you don't. That is calling God a liar.
There are many parts of the Bible that I do not understand, but it would be arrogant of me to just say that it is wrong and I don't believe it. We are then putting ourselves above God.
Isaiah 55:9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
2007-09-03 03:26:58 · answer #4 · answered by Freedom 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No true Christian will tell you that the Bible is corrupt, but there is always the chance of interpretation (for example according to literary style). Interpretation is a very difficult task and one requires to study the Bible a lot, but it is possible because God has given us a great gift: reason, and we should use it.
2007-09-03 03:15:08 · answer #5 · answered by remy 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Be a "scissor Christian", as I call them? You can, but don't be surprised when others see you in a different light other than the one you'd like to be seen in. For this reason alone I never refer to myself as a "Christian" because I am an extremely abrasive and "in your face" kind of "theist". I simply cannot wrap my mind around the words of Christ when He said "If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to him the other also". I simply cannot do this. Being the youngest of 7 kids and having an extremely hostile, ignorant, and cruel atheist step-father will do that to a person.
2007-09-03 03:27:23 · answer #6 · answered by RIFF 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I understand it as if a person believes that Jesus died to save them from their sins and rose again and a person puts their faith in Christ, then that person is a Christian. Don't take my word for it, thats just my personal belief.
2007-09-03 03:15:48 · answer #7 · answered by Rudy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
being a christian is about having Jesus in your life and following his teaching. not all of the old testament is relevant to today it was in the time it was written for that culture. if you know Jesus you will follow his laws to love every one and God above all.
2007-09-03 03:25:56 · answer #8 · answered by Mim 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
there's no such thing as a 100% christian.
i think you're consider a christian as long as you honestly try to follow the bible and be a good and moral person as possible.
2007-09-03 03:13:39 · answer #9 · answered by empyre 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if it matters that much why not look outside the box in all fairness as many do find opposing views and an altered understanding and paradigm of what Christian actually means .
2007-09-03 03:18:05 · answer #10 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is called growing. We are not all at the same place as others. Also, some people who call themselves Christians are not. Only those who have turned from their sins and have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior are really Christians. They have been "Born Again". God has removed their spirit and has replaced it with the Holy Spirit, God Himself. It is the Holy Spirit that saves us and changes us completely from the inside out.
2007-09-03 03:20:26 · answer #11 · answered by Apostle Jeff 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋