What kind of Christian?

smiles

If you are a christian then what type are you?

Born again, catholic, etc.

Myself - Catholic

<< Fio >>

JustHalf

Catholic to lapsed Catholic to agnostic to born-again (Prod).

Seaneh

I was born and raised Cathloic, but I never believed, but now I'm a born again Christian.
And I'm very happy.

Manach

Roman Catholic - unhappy and questioning, yet is that not the function of a religous type?

Excelsior

Born Roman Catholic -> Roman Catholic -> Lapsed Roman Catholicism -> Agnosticism -> Atheism -> Lapsed Atheism -> Christianity without denomination (yet).

I am Born Again, although I hate the implications of that term.

Slydice

I'm Roman Catholic (not the best one in the world by a far shot)

Originally posted by Excelsior
I am Born Again, although I hate the implications of that term.

Me too, after having a discussion with neuro one day. I suppose it kinda (very iffy) fits with how you now believe but sounds a little hrm .... i dunno .... "Born Again", first thing i thought was something like "Isn't that how drug addicts describe their 'hits'"

Excelsior

Its a biblical term in that Jesus pretty much said it, but the generalisations that people make about you when you are "Born Again" are really anathema to me.

My faith isn't narrow-minded, intolerant, ill-thought out or wholly emotional which is what a lot of people think Born Agains and charismatics and evangelicals are.

Caesar_Bojangle

7/8 catholic
1/8 protestant
and if you do the math i'm a big dirty catholic

Victor

Catholic / non-practising catholic / christian.

misswex

Questioning Catholic

neuro-praxis

Catholic -> lapsed Catholic -> disinterested agnostic ->born again Christian.

I hate the connotations of the term too, but it means what it says.

Victor

Originally posted by neuro-praxis
born again Christian. I hate the connotations of the term too, but it means what it says.

The problem is when "such people" start getting all evangelical and start proselytising.

bug

baptised a catholic. mothers family were ardent north of ireland catholics fathers were protestants.

jesus_freak

Originally posted by Victor
The problem is when "such people" start getting all evangelical and start proselytising.

Most Christians consider it their duty to spread the Good News.

JF

McGinty

I would class myself as a non-demonational Christian. Thing is I belief in God, and the teachings of Jesus Christ, but I haven't yet found a religion that is truly inclusive of all faiths.

I was baptised as a Catholic, but was rarely made to go to church apart from Holy Communion (which for some reason I made when I was ten) and my Confirmation, and the occasional mass. I dislike a lot of the ethos of Catholism. I then went about investigating other religions, for example Jevohah Witness, Envangelical (I attended a church for some time) and Protestant but I keep coming back to the age old problem, all these religions (maybe with the exception of the Protestant faith to a degree) want to convert everyone to their way. It's like the kingdom of heaven (metephorically speaking) is only open to that religion, to me that is poppycock, because it is my beleif that heaven is there for us all, should we want to choose that. My most fundamental belief is that God loves variety, and as we humans are so varied, then so our religions should reflect that aspect of our nature, so no one religion is the right one or no one religion is the wrong one (having said that leaders who abuse their powers in the name of the religion are wrong, but thats a whole other issue)

But I cannot deny the power of Jesus Christ, and the whole aspect of his teachings, so that is why I am not with any particular Christian church at the moment. Having said that there are a few I am somewhat ignorant of, for example Methodists, etc, but I kind of like my non-demonational status.

I also looked into New Age which is a bit too far out for me, Hinduism (strangely similar to catholism in terms they have lots of Gods to pray to and Catholics have saints to pray to) and a little bit of Buddism.

Darragh2

Just plain old Roman Catholic, always have been, always will be.

neuro-praxis

McGinty, Jesus taught the absolute only way to salvation was through him.

Do you believe that? Or do you only believe bits of what he taught?

Victor

NP, you sound very direct there!

Originally posted by neuro-praxis
Jesus taught the absolute only way to salvation was through him.

Jesus taught that loving and forgiveness and minding the children were the ways to heaven, that is the core to Christianity, not that one has to believe in Jesus.

neuro-praxis

Nope. Sorry Victor, you're wrong.

He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

He also said, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit" (John 3:5). And a little bit later in the same book he says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4).

Originally posted by Victor:

Jesus taught that loving and forgiveness and minding the children were the ways to heaven, that is the core to Christianity, not that one has to believe in Jesus

The core to Christianity is that Christ hung on a cross and died to save the world from its sin through his Father's incredible love and grace. The core to Christianity is about what God and Christ have done, not what we can do. The bible states explicitly that it is through faith, and not actions, that we get salvation.

Thank goodness! Because if I could only get to heaven through being a "good person" I sure as hell wouldn't be getting in.

Vuk

Born a Catholic, subscribed to the whole Catholic thing until 14, even thought I had a "calling" or "vocation" but once I relaised that those who participate in organised religion lead lives no better or worse than the "common person", I bailed out. I find the whole it's ok so long as I say I'm sorry to Jesus thing repulsive.

Originally posted by neuro-praxis
The bible states explicitly that it is through faith, and not actions, that we get salvation.

Thank goodness! Because if I could only get to heaven through being a "good person" I sure as hell wouldn't be getting in.

Wonderful, I can now abandon my good nature, take up a faith in Jesus and ensure my way to heaven!

But to rationalise your statement, a true faith in Jesus should reflect your actions, it's all or nothing I'm afraid.


I believe in Jesus, I belive the Bible holds many valuable leasons, however I will not live my life to the letter of a book poisoned by the human condition. Take for example; Jesus spoke in parables, which like poetry can be told to a group of people, each and every one will take home their own interpretation of what they had listened to, depending on their frame of mind and life experiences. I deal with people in business everyday, even when I explain something in a simple manner, they sometimes respond, not to what I have said but to what they wanted to hear. So taking all the authors of the bible, are you saying that they were perfect beings (Judas??), unbiased and unaffected by influences to produce the exact wording of Jesus, could you be living a very human lie instead of the Divine word??



Blessed are the cheese-makers

neuro-praxis

Vuk said:

But to rationalise your statement, a true faith in Jesus should reflect your actions, it's all or nothing I'm afraid.

I totally agree. And realistically, I'm a better person than I was before I was a Christian. With faith comes a desire to do what's right, so I'm with you there.

On your other points, I disagree. Whilst it's true that people can take varied interpretations of everything they read, that doesn't mean that there's no truth to be found within the passages, and from my experience, working through biblical passages, analysing context and varying translations, usually leads you pretty close to the truth or actual intended meaning of the parables. Working with other people keeps you in line aswell.

Which parables do you think are confusing by the way? Most of them are quite clear-cut, with the exception of two confusing ones I can think of.

Also, no, I don't think the bible writers were perfect, far from it. Paul referred to himself as the worst of the sinners, and David committed just about every wrong you could think of. But I do believe that the bible is God-breathed, and I trust it. It is possible for a taste of perfection to come from an imperfect source, touched by actual perfection.

Yoda

It's hard to apply labels like this, but as I have started posting on this board I should give it a try...

Baptized Presbyterian -> a little generic Protestantism growing up -> interest in Wicca (11) -> interest in Star Trek and X-Men (i.e. no interest in religion) -> interest in Hinduism (15) -> interest in Christianity (15) -> confirmed Anglican Catholic (17) -> Theosophy &c. (20) -> Buddhism (21-40)

... is more or less accurate. A friend says that I am a rather Anglican Buddhist.