The essential is this: Jesus Christ. All I want to know is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is it. If you have that, you are well to do. If you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose on the third day, then you are my dear brother in Christ. No other qualification is necessary. Those who believe are the Church, the Body of Christ.
And ... this is the Protestant position.
No schism.
Thank-you, my brother.
Quester
That sounds very warm and fuzzy, my friend, but that's not what the Apostles and the Church Fathers thought. There were many "Christians" who thought of Jesus as no more than a "rabbi," or narcissistic "Christians" of the Thomasian gnostic brand, or the Arian pagans, or the Nestorians who denied that Jesus is God.
Believeing in God without knowing what you believe in is not a faith. I would venture to say that the Apostles adn the Church Fathers had a pretty good idea of what Jesus taught and what the Church is.
One thing is certain -- it's not what everyone wants it to be.