If you believe few who call themselves "Christian" really are, then is the word "Christian" without meaning?

Question

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In the following question I asked what percentage of Christians actually met your criteria for using the name.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArYz_uImz2rjFVyknKa_Onfd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071206094020AAo4VYz

Several reported low numbers who call themselves "Christian" deserved the name.

But if the word "Christian" most often is used by folks that you prefer not to affiliate with, explain why it isn't you who are misusing the word.

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Answer 1

Of course the word "Christian" is meaningless. I don't know how anybody could be confused about this. "Christianity" is an arbitrary collection of over 35,000 different mini-religions who share no social connection whatsoever, and who hold no universal doctrine in common. The term is only useful in describing the lineage of a particular sect - nothing more. And of course the term is relative, because it has different definitions.

Answer 2

A Christian is someone who believes that Jesus was the living incarnation of the one God, who is revealed in the Hebrew scripture. It's all summed up in the Apostles' Creed. Other than that Christians can believe in just about anything. That infants should be baptized, or that only adults should be baptized. That there are seven sacraments, or only two. That the Bible's creation story is the literal truth, or an allegory.That you can be saved by good works, or only by faith. That Joseph Smith was a true prophet, or that he was a fraud. Unfortunately, there have always been a substantial number of Christians who believe, based on their particular interpretation of this big and confusing book, in persecuting or oppressing women, gays, blacks, Jews, so-called witches, and, above all, Christians who have a different interpretation of the same book.

Answer 3

This looked like a good question until I got to the point where you placed the burden of proof on the answerer to explain why it isn’t they who are misusing the word Christian. It appears as though you are attempting to position yourself as the arbiter over everyone's reasons, and I find that to be offensive.

Your opening question can be answered with a simple question of my own—

If there are a lot of counterfeit bills circulating in our society, then is real currency worthless?

For the record, the Bible is the standard by which we are measured. Anyone can say they are Christians, but do their lives and their beliefs reflect the clear teachings of scripture on the matter? The opinions of individuals are as endless as they are meaningless when it comes to this subject. If you are not looking solely at what the Bible says about it you are wasting your time.

Answer 4

Well, I think you've nudged them into the whole True Christian(tm) verses "those other Christians" thing.

But on another level, there are some people who don't believe in Christian doctrine, or even in a supreme being, who consider themselves "culturally Christian". A really good friend of mine is an atheist, but retains to some of his Catholicism for cultural reasons.

I might do that myself if I were raised in a church with a lot of culture and history, but I was raised in a Protestant "low church" with more doctrine than liturgy.

Answer 5

Because you are intentionally trying to trick them by using the "no true Scotsman" fallacy. Yes, we all know that some Christians think this way...but what is this proving? It only proves that some Christians use this logical fallacy...which I'm sure you already know.

http://www.logicalfallacies.info/notruescotsman.html


And just because some Christians adhere to this fallacy does not mean that the word "Christian" is meaningless, unless of course you agree with their logic.

Answer 6

Here is a video segment that talks about Christianity before the Church assembled the Bible. These people were true Christians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjogW8-eBFE

Answer 7

I prefer Christ-like. Christian has become such a smeared and general term today that being associated with it automatically draws opinions about you.

Answer 8

"Christian" is not a requirement for my association with anyone. If you are Christian or if you are not, or if you claim the name and are not, it isn't the criteria I use.

Answer 9

It just means that many are called, but few are chosen.

Answer 10

dont follow christans . follow christ