CHRISTIANITY DEFINED - (LDS Site Defining Christianity) OPEN

LDS site Foundation for Christian Studies ^

[greyfoxx39]

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CHRISTIAN DEFINED One might think that defining a Christian would be simple. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word Christian to mean “adherent of Christianity”, or “relating to or professing a belief in Christianity or Jesus Christ.” Simply put, a Christian is defined as one who believes in Jesus Christ. The Encyclopedia Britannica states: “…writers of Christian history normally begin phenomenologically when discussing Christian identity; that is, they do not bring norms or standards by which they have determined the truth of this or that branch of Christianity or even of the faith tradition as a whole but identify everyone as Christian who call themselves Christian.” According to Britannica, a revered source in continuous publication since 1768, a Christian is plainly defined as someone who calls themselves a Christian. Some Refute the Defining of a Christian Despite the simplicity of the aforementioned definitions, there are some individuals and institutions who sternly contend that there are self-described Christians, and in fact entire sects of self-proclaimed Christian religions, who should not be considered Christians at all. As odd as this may seem, such allegations are common and emotionally charged. The website religioustolerance.org attempted to define a Christian and described the exercise as a “lightning rod,” and that the conclusions they came up with generated “many emails from angry Christians who denounce it,” especially among “Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants.” The FCS encourages visitors to examine the content generated by religioustolderance.org on the subject of defining a Christian . Reminiscent of the Pharisees of old, the contentious individuals and institutions who deny the Christianity of others often utilize their personal interpretation of scripture and synthetic dogma to support their assertions. They contend the privilege of earning the Christian label is dependent on such things as being born again, believing in the Triune God, accepting certain creeds, and/or belonging to a particular faith community. The absurdity of the dynamic reaches its pinnacle when those who bear testimony of their devotion to Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Redeemer are rebuked and denied the Christian marker by those who disagree with their religion and/or theological beliefs. It causes one to ponder—what would Jesus do? Historical Perspective The word “Christian” appears three times in the scriptures, all three in the New Testament. Acts 11:26 reveals that the Disciples of Christ were first referred to as Christians in Antioch, indicating those who followed Christ were starting to be referred to as Christians. Before that time it was common for those who followed Christ to refer to one another as brothers (or brethren), disciples, or believers. In Acts 26:20 King Agrippa tells Paul “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” likely indicating the term “Christian” was beginning to be used (perhaps even regularly) to refer to a believer in Christ. In 1 Peter 4:16, Peter refers to those who would “suffer as a Christian,” signifying that those who consider themselves Christian should be happy in their persecutions and trials. In all three scriptural references that use the term Christian, not one denotes any further requirement to be a Christian other than believing in and following Jesus Christ. In the Greek language (ancient and modern) it’s common to refer to a group of people by taking the root geographic location or ethnicity of that people and to add the suffix “anos.” For instance, those from the Cretan village of Spili are referred to as Spilianos, and a follower of Mohammed (Moameth in Greek) is referred to as Moamethanos. The reference to Christians in the original Greek translation of the New Testament is Christianos, meaning a follower of Christ. Although the term Christianos is historically believed to have been used in a derogatory sense by unbelievers, the meaning of the word remains. When one combines the three New Testament references to Christian, the historical context of the time, and the linguistics of the original Greek, one must conclude that a Christian is simply one who follows and/or believes in Christ. Should one desire to create a deeper definition of a Christian using 1 Peter 4:16, then the most far reaching conclusion that can be drawn is that a Christian is one who not only follows Christ, but more deeply puts their trust in him, is reliant upon him, and seeks to live a life that exemplifies him—all difficult traits to quantify and thus of little value in defining a Christian. The Testimony of an Apostle as a Litmus Test One would never doubt the testimony of the apostle Peter, despite the fact he had his own moments of weakness during the trial and Atonement of Christ. When asked by the Savior “But whom say ye that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, ” to which Jesus Christ confirmed “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 16;15-17). Perhaps we can use Peter’s testimony as a litmus test for all prospective Christians: do they believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God? If the answer is affirmative, then they are indeed a Christian. Jesus Christ in Humility was Inclusionary Jesus Christ never administered any theological exams to his disciplines, nor established any notable prerequisites to being a Christian other than to believe on him as the Son of God. Many were healed of the vilest of infirmities by simply believing in Jesus Christ as one who had the authority to perform such healings. There is no mention in the scriptures that the healed were made whole because they embraced the doctrine of the trinity, nor because they were classified as born again, nor because they belonged to a particular sect of believers. They were healed because they believed, or were blessed to have a believer intercede on their behalf, that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus was never one to be exclusionary in his ministry, but rather inclusionary across a broad spectrum. This is beautifully illustrated in Luke 9:49-50 which reads: “And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” Jesus did not ask about their specific belief system, nor what group of disciples they congregated with. Rather, Jesus proclaimed that those who act in His name are to be considered His disciples. Many Christians today would do well to understand this passage of scripture and apply it to their own actions towards others. The World in Pride is Exclusionary If Jesus was so inclusionary, why then do we have modern day Pharisees fighting so hard to narrow the definition of a Christian—even to the persecution of fellow Christians? Do these individuals, like the apostle John in the passage from Luke 9, seek for a more exclusive club and complain when others call themselves Christian but don’t practice the same rituals or beliefs as they do? The likely root of the reason for such passionate denials of Christianity upon others is pride and arrogance. Such pride can manifest itself into a fear of not clearly understanding the theological beliefs of others, nor taking the time to earnestly do so, thus resulting in the easier resolution of flatly denying to acknowledge another’s Christianity. There may be fear that such acknowledgement will lead to acceptance of another’s beliefs leading to a loss of membership or validity in their own religion. Greed may play a role in the denial of the Christian label by ecclesiastical leaders resisting the loss of tithe paying members by employing a strategy of quiet slander towards other denominations. Additionally, one cannot rule out the possibility of Saul’s Syndrome, where like Saul who persecuted the Christians of old out of his zeal for the law, well intentioned individuals seek to protect the faith—when in essence they are fighting against the true will of God. Excerpt from the article on Saul's Syndrome: in keeping others from the truth. Consider the Pharisee Saul before his radical conversion to the Lord when he afterwards became Paul. Through his disciplined spiritual education among the finest teachers in Jerusalem, and an unrivaled passion to protect the ways of the Lord as he knew it, Saul persecuted and fought against the spread of Christianity—even unto death among those he victimized. Paul was so blinded by his passion for what he believed to be right that he never considered that his interpretation of the scriptures and his spiritual belief system may be wrong. It wasn’t until the Lord himself appeared to Saul that he relinquished his incorrect interpretation of God’s doctrine and embraced the true gospel. How many millions today suffer from the same syndrome as Saul where religious passion overcomes the promptings of the Holy Ghost? No matter what the specific reasons are, the resulting fruits of such denials of Christianity are disunity in the body of Christ, the spread of misinformation, and the sowing of seeds of ”discord among brethren” (Prov. 6:19). Differences in Gospel Living, but all are Christians Beyond being identified as a Christian, there is an abundance of doctrine in the scriptures that helps explain true Christian beliefs and practices—even “the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2: 9-10). Some Christian theology is simple to understand, while other theological concepts are more difficult. Paul to the Corinthians and Hebrews used the metaphors of milk and meat to indicate there were simple doctrines (milk) and more complex doctrines (meat) (1 Cor. 3:2 and Heb. 5:12), and that one must be able to digest the milk before moving on to the more difficult to digest meat. Paul points out that there may be various stages of understanding of the doctrines of Christianity among Christians. This difference in doctrinal understanding, combined with the moral agency of mankind that can lead to good and bad choices, results in their being stronger Christians who live their lives according to the precepts espoused by Jesus Christ (Matt. 25:34-36), and weaker Christians who find it difficult to live their lives in accordance with the gospel (Matt. 7:21-23). Regardless of what stage there are in, both are Christians and both must individually exercise their moral agency to accept or reject the ordinances and principles of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Likewise, both must accept the consequences of their actions in the Day of Judgment. There will be Christians (valiant and less valiant) in all three kingdoms in the eternities—perhaps even some who will end up relegated into outer darkness. Conclusion It is the hope and prayer of the FCS that the Christian world can unite on the simple principle of allowing everyone who claims Jesus Christ as their Savior to be respectfully referred to as a Christian without caveats. We can peacefully and considerately coexist as brothers and sisters in Christ, while ascribing to different Christian beliefs and church affiliations. Imagine what we can accomplish as a diverse Christian family working together to fulfill God’s purposes on earth.

[Elsie]

That passage is about the Church, not Elijah, who was a Jew.

And she thought her life was wasted during the years she was a Presbyterisn!!

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What on Earth are they TEACHING in those LDS classes??

[Elsie]

You don’t say welcome to the New Jerusalem

And one doesn't THINK for themselves in the Mormon hive.

[Elsie]

Some posters would like to see the “open” thread format on the Religion Forum abolished. I am not one of them.

So you post here on FR, too?

[Elsie]

Conclusion
It is the hope and prayer of the FCS that the Christian world can unite on the simple principle of allowing everyone who claims Jesus Christ as their Savior to be respectfully referred to as a Christian without caveats. We can peacefully and considerately coexist as brothers and sisters in Christ, while ascribing to different Christian beliefs and church affiliations. Imagine what we can accomplish as a diverse Christian family working together to fulfill God’s purposes on earth.

Sigh...

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Conclusion
It is the hope and prayer of the Two PERSONAGES that the MORMON world can unite on the simple principle of allowing everyone who claims The BOOK of Mormon to be respectfully referred to as a MORMON without caveats. We can peacefully and considerately coexist as brothers and sisters in Joseph Smith, while ascribing to different MORMON beliefs and church affiliations. Imagine what we can accomplish as a diverse MORMON family working together to confuse God’s purposes on earth.

[Elsie]

Oh dear, the Trinity Christians do not realzied that Elijah is eternal he has a resurrected body of flesh and bone.

Oh dear; are you the confused one - befuddled by the shifting sands of Mormon Thought.

[Elsie]

You saw my restore in the Bible but I did not see your rapture bud so where is it?

We MORMON's CANNOT find ANY of the MORMON Temple Rites in the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, any of the D&C's or in the Bible.

YOU should not be harping on this; as it makes us look stupid.

--MormonDude(You DO remember the memo from SLC, don't you?)

[Elsie]

BTW where is the Book of Elijah?

Oh dear, I guess the find Constantine clergy didn’t think they should include it!

Why - if you look; you'll probably find it in the RE-TRANSLATED KJV that Ol' Joe spent SO much time on; inquiring of the Lord as to the TRUTH of it.

You DO remember the JST; don't you?

It's that thing that MORMON Headquarters, located in SLC, has FAILED to include into the pantheon of the Standard Works®.

[Elsie]

I thank the Lord for the restoration so I do have knowledge of what happen to many of the Lord’s find servants.

Yup - that ELIJAH 'restoration' has worked out REALLY well!

HA HA ha!

[Elsie]

http://www.transformersmovie.com/

Revenge of the Fallen

[Elsie]

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

In the 1800's a couple of FALLEN angels were looking about for a sucker.

They found one and the REST is history...

[Elsie]

You are reading that wrong they are two different beings!

Once again you prove that MORMON teaching is NOT Biblical.

 Matthew 11:11-15
 11.  I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
 12.  From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
 13.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
 14.  And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
 15.  He who has ears, let him hear.

 

 

You are on VERY shaky ground by denying the TRUTH of Jesus' words.

[Elsie]

I was speaking to them we do have minds of our own if you don’t mind!

Sure we do!

--SevenOfNine(BZzzzz.....)

[colorcountry]

thought the women’s garmies had big holes in appropriate places ???

They did back when I wore my first maternity garments. They were one piece with an appropriate opening and overlap of material.

They were miserable to wear, but nowadays they have two piece that I understand are much better. I wonder when God gave the holy pattern and to which holy 'prophet' he inspired the change in the holy garment.

[greyfoxx39]

They were miserable to wear, but nowadays they have two piece that I understand are much better. I wonder when God gave the holy pattern and to which holy 'prophet' he inspired the change in the holy garment.

Must have been the same 'prophet' who decided that after 100 plus years of cursing Christians, it would serve the purpose of the Corporation to demand that mormons must now be known as "Christian"

"Christians—those poor, miserable priests brother Brigham was speaking about—some of them are the biggest whoremasters there are on the earth, and at the same time preaching righteousness to the children of men. The poor devils, they could not get up here and preach an oral discourse, to save themselves from hell; they are preaching their fathers' sermons —preaching sermons that were written a hundred years before they were born. ...You may get a Methodist priest to pour water on you, or sprinkle it on you, and baptize you face foremost, or lay you down the other way, and whatever mode you please, and you will be damned with your priest.

-    Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 5, p. 89


Prophet John Taylor (1808 - 1887):


"Christianity...is a perfect pack of nonsense...the devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work than the Christianity of the nineteenth century."

-    Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 6, p. 167

"Where shall we look for the true order or authority of God? It cannot be found in any nation of Christendom."

-    Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 10, p. 127

"What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast."

-    Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 13, p. 225

"What does the Christian world know about God? Nothing... Why so far as the things of God are concerned, they are the veriest fools; they know neither God nor the things of God."

-    Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 13, p. 225


Apostle Orson Pratt (1811 - 1881):


"Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the ‘whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent."

-    Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 255

"But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of Christian Churches ... But there has been a long apostasy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance"

-    Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, v. 18, p. 172

 

“This class of men, calling themselves Christian, uniting with the various forms of the pagan religion, adopting many of their ceremonies and institutions, became very popular, and finally some of the pagans embraced Christianity and were placed, as it were, upon the throne, and what they termed Christianity became very popular indeed. How long has this order of things existed, this dreadful apostacy, this class of people that pronounced themselves Zion, or Christians, without any of the characteristics of Zion? It has existed for some sixteen or seventeen centuries. It has spread itself and grown and gone into the four quarters of the earth. It is the great ecclesiastical power that is spoken of by the revelator John, and called by him the most corrupt and most wicked of all the powers of the earth, under the name of spiritual Babylon, or in other words Babel, which signifies confusion. This great and corrupt power is also represented by John as presenting a golden cup to the nations, full of all manner of filthiness and abominations.”

-    Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, v. 14, p. 346

“But as there has been no Christian Church on the earth for a great many centuries past, until the present century, the people have lost sight of the pattern that God has given according to which the Christian Church should be established, and they have denominated a great variety of people Christian Churches, because they profess to be. They say, "We have built chapels unto the name of the Lord; we call our Churches Christian Churches, they are called the Church of Christ, St. John's Church, St. Paul's Church, St. Peter's Church, and after others of the ancient Apostles;" and one who had never studied the pattern which God has given of the Christian Church would almost really believe that they are Christian Churches. But there has been a long apostacy, during which the nations have been cursed with apostate churches in great abundance, and they are represented in the revelations of St. John as a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, having a golden cup in her hand, full of filthiness and abominations, full of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; that in her forehead there was a name written—"Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots." This kind of a church has existed in great abundance, for as John the Revelator says, she was to have her dominion upon many waters, and she was to make all nations drunken with the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

-    Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, v. 18, p. 172

“Q. After the Church of Christ fled from earth to heaven, what was left? A. A set of wicked Apostates, murderers, and idolaters, who, after having made war with the saints, and overcome them, and destroyed them out of the earth, were left to follow the wicked imaginations of their own corrupt hearts, and to build up churches by human authority, and to follow after the cunning craftiness of uninspired men; having no Apostle, Prophet, or Revelator to inquire of God for them: and thus, because of wickedness, the Church, and Priesthood, and gifts, and ordinances and blessings of the everlasting Gospel, were taken from the earth, and reserved in heaven until the fulness of times, when it was predicted that they should again be restored among men to continue until the end should come.”

-    Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, Chapter 16, p. 205


Prophet Wilford Woodruff (1807 - 1898):


"The Gospel of modern Christendom shuts up the Lord, and stops all communication with Him. I want nothing to do with such a Gospel, I would rather prefer the Gospel of the dark ages, so called"

-    Prophet Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, v. 2, p. 196


Apostle George Q. Cannon (1827 - 1901):


"After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon."

-    Apostle George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, p. 324

WOW!

[colorcountry]

Yep, whatever is good for the “image.”

I wonder if the Mormon PR people who craft television commercials showing a new “image” of Mormonism really understands that they have created a golden calf. God will destroy that golden calf AND the people who create it and worship it.

Too bad!

[Religion Moderator]

Yes I do.

[Godzilla]

[Colofornian]

When Jesus asked who do you say that I am, he wasn’t looking for just any description. Only Peter gave the correct answer, the other answers were wrong. It isn’t enough to believe in Jesus Christ, one must believe in the true or real Jesus Christ. The real question that must be asked is whether the Mormons believe in the real Christ or a false Christ. If one goes by traditional or classical Christianity’s confession of Christ, then the Mormons worship a false Christ. The basic law of non-contradiction says that something cannot be true and false at the same time. If the Christ of the Mormons is correct, then the Christ of all traditional Christian denominations is a false Christ.

Very good post. It cannot be stated enough. So please repeat a post like this on many of these LDS threads. Thank you.

[greyfoxx39]

In further reading of the "Christianity Defined" site, I wandered into their bookstore.

http://www.studychristianity.com/book_store.html

This is where the "Christian" mask comes off. There is money involved in book sales.

Here are some of the books that are listed under the heading....wait for it!.....

ADVANCED CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Miracle of Forgiveness, by Spencer. W. Kimball

Jesus the Christ (Collector's Edition), by James E. Talmage

Lectures on Faith, by Joseph Smith

Articles of Faith, by James E. Talmage

AND...under INTERMEDIATE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

The Great Apostasy, by James E. Talmage!