can you be a Christian and not believe in God?

Question

what if you follow the teachings of Christ to the book except the part about the ultimate belief in God as the all powering bearded white man in the sky? Would that make you a Christianic Atheist?

Answer 1

Christianity is fundamentally an earthly response to a perceived incarnation of the divine. It is theoretically possible that the earthly organisation called Christianity may allow you membership regardless of belief, since it is they that govern who is and is not one of their number. At the minute, however, one of the criteria Christianity that sets for membership is a professed faith that the creator of the world became incarnate in the figure of Christ, and as such, if you don't believe this, you'd better be an incredibly smooth negotiator if you want in.

Mind you, it could be argued that it is salvation, rather than God himself, that is core to the belief of many modern day members of the Church, so I suppose one could get by without explicit faith in God as long as one is prepared to stand and act by the doctrine of salvation. I don't recommend this, though; mostly because it seems disrespectful towards the God that Christianity claims to follow.

Answer 2

Following the teaching of Christ is not the same as knowing Him personally, which is what makes you a Christian. All true Christians know that Jesus comes from and is a part of God.

Answer 3

I presume you are serious, so you deserve a considered answer. If you mean by God the idea of some transcendental essence, then my opinion is no, one cannot be a Christian and not believe in transcendence of some kind. But if you mean by God the Old Testament of some "daddy out there", then I believe that a number of Christian theologians have already answered you affirmatively. See the link below. It is possible to interpret New Testament messages in ways consistent with this liberal Christianity.

But of course I say this with some trepidation, looking upwards occasionally as I walk around :-). You see, I remember the alleged fury of the "daddy in the sky" who sent lightning bolts to destroy wooden roof of the famed York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in England, a few days after its bishop had said that neither resurrection nor the virgin birth need be taken literally. See the second link below.

Answer 4

I will try and explain this as simply as I can. You cannot be a born again Christian and not believe in God. You can try to follow all the teachings of Jesus, however that will not get you to heaven- the only way that you will be a true Christian, is believe in God the Father, who sent Christ the Son, to die on the cross for our sins, and then the Holy Spirit will indwell you and you become a true follower of Jesus. And besides you cannot believe in Jesus and not God because Jesus is God

Answer 5

No, because by definition a Christian is someone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Whether someone does or tries to do Christian things is irrelevant. Of course, the word is sometimes used loosely--my dog might be 'better than any Christian', but he doesn't believe in God, as far as I know.

Answer 6

I believe that yes, you can be a christian and not believe in God. I also think that most 'church going christians' are more hypocrites than people that don't, that is through personal experience though and possibly only applies to a minority but I know a lot of them where I live and I feel that I'm definitely more christian than them even though I don't believe in God

Answer 7

I was born and raised a Catholic, but I don't believe in the Christian idea of God as such. I do believe there is a higher power, but I think being a good Christian doesn't necessarily mean going to church and following all those weird rules, like no sex before marriage and all that nonsense, but basically just trying to be a good person, and treat others as you would like them to treat you. Isn't that what Jesus would have wanted?

Answer 8

Not in the generally accepted definition of a Christian, since "Christ" carries with it the concept of being a Messiah/Savior sent from God, and perhaps the Son of God.

I think you can follow most of the teachings of Jesus as a good way to live w/o belief in God or Jesus' divinity, but that wouldn't ordinarily be defined as "Christian."

Answer 9

First of all, God is not a bearded man. God is the spirit that settle in your soul if you believe in Him. Christianity means believing in Jesus Christ (and also in God, His Holly Father).

Answer 10

A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ whose ministry was about the relationship between God and mankind. If you want to leave God out of the equation, it doesn't leave you with much - unless of course you're in the business of feeding five thousand people and want to keep the costs down.