Posted on 11/10/2007 10:10:35 AM PST by Between the Lines
Jennifer Hua identifies herself as a Christian. A 35-year-old former attorney studying Christian counseling at the Wheaton College Graduate School (Illinois), she has gone to church all her life and is a lay leader in her suburban Chicago congregation. She furthers her spiritual development by daily Bible reading, prayer, listening to and singing worship songs, and interacting with other Christians. And every few months, she carves out time for a silent retreat. "I do all of these things because I know from past experience I need to recalibrate my mind and my heart to be in tune with God," she says.
James Smith also identifies himself as a Christian. He attended church as a child, but his attendance was minimal as a young adult. He believes in God, occasionally attends Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan when his time-consuming job in the finance district allows, but he does not often participate in other activities to further his spiritual life. He has a Bible but rarely opens it; what leisure time he has he spends with friends, most of whom are of different faiths, and he does not necessarily believe that his God is any different from the one his Muslim friend worships.
"I don't think that God would be a God who would shut others out of heaven because they don't use the word 'Christian' to describe themselves," he says.
The United States is described in mainstream media as largely Christian (between 70 and 80 percent, depending on the study, identify themselves as "Christian"), and compared to the rest of the world, this is certainly the case. However, not all within this vast group of Christians are alike.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
I suspect the Doc is on your side of that argument.
There are active, passive and nominal Christians, who form a kind of continuum. Then there are the unbelievers who come in many varieties.Among these are those who have fallen away from Belief, and form a portion of all three types. There are also among the unbelievers those who with the help of God’s grace are rising to meet him.
How do you figure? I reread the post again and I am not seeing what you see.
The article is not about how you or I would define a Christian, but how all Americans define their own Christianity.
“There are LOTS of “flavors” of Christian practice/observance.
C.S. Lewis described this situation with the “Great Hall” imagery...
the Great Hall to represent the fundamentals that all Christians
agree upon, then the doors of the great hall to represent the huge
constellation of variations in traditions and varying beliefs/concepts.
(I think that was in “Mere Christianity”.)”
Hear Hear!
Private Christian according to the thread starters, voracious Bible reader, Charity in private as the Scripture instructs, no interest in being a Church leader or particularly attending a Church regularly.
Church politics and other things simply turn my stomach at how unScriptural those things are in fact.
No, you are an "Active Christian" that belongs to what would you consider to be a liturgical type church.
You are confusing types of Christians with types of churches. While Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran make up the largest part of "Liturgical Christians," they are also part of the makeup of other types of Christians as well.
I commented earlier on how I can clearly see that my church alone is made up of at lest four of the five types of Christians.
The first use of the term Christian was at the church at Antioch.
I would venture to say there is only ONE kind of Christian. The others think they are, or wish they were, but aren’t really.
*Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ
Catholics believe this
*Committed churchgoers
Catholics believe this is a requirement
*Bible readers
Catholics read three selections from the Bible each time they attend mass. Some of us practise the daily liturgy of the hours. Twice, at least, and, more correctly three times a day. The Old and New Testament are read at each hour. .
*Accept leadership positions
Many Catholics are Deacons, are Liturgical readers, and are Religious Education Teachers
*Invest in personal faith development through the church
We believe that occurs through The Sacraments
*Feel obligated to share faith; 79% do so.
Catholics believe that living one's faith, staying married, doing charitable works, and being open to new life, is a sharing of faith. Next to the Federal Government, the Catholic Church is the largest provider of social services, including aid to the poor, education, and hospital services. It was, I believe, the number one responder in terms of dollars and aid to Hurricane Katrina
In Christ Jesus' Name
V's wife
How could the three groups for which “Believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ” is not listed even be considered Christian?
Because the writer did not know what he was writing about! I noticed immediately that the so-called “liturgical” Christians in this article were Catholics and Lutherans, and the writer failed to include belief in Jesus Christ as something that made them Christians. What nonsence. Such inaccuracy ought to make the entire atrticle suspect.
I pray that his attendance at Redeemer opens his ears and heart to the Truth of Jesus and the joys of His Gospel.
Active and Professing Christians said "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" is the key to being a Christian (almost 9 in 10), while Liturgical, Private, and Cultural Christians favored more generally "believing in God" as the main element in being a Christian.
It does not say that Catholics are "Liturgical Christians", what is says is that most "Liturgical Christians" are Catholic and Lutheran. This is a poll and if Catholics didn't choose the answers you wanted then, you beef should be with other Catholics and not the author. Don't kill the messenger.
If you don't like the way the poll came out, change it, join the poll. NationalChristianPoll.com
Too many in this thread are confusing types of Christians with types of churches.
Well, Redeemer is among the more liberal churches in the PCA.
I've seen on countless threads that babies receive this 'grace' at baptism...They certainly do not have faith in Jesus Christ...
There are many (including some in my own family) who nominally call themselves Christian and if pressed believe it is truth, but have no relationship with Christ or any church whatsoever. It’s just the background of their world view. I would argue that such folk are not Christian, but ripe to become so.
Babies do not know Christ though Christ knows them. So does God grant salvation to babies who have died before accepting Jesus Christ as their saviour?
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