A question then...
Oooh fun, fun! I'm enjoying the discussion on Christians in the post below and I'm learning a lot of things too! I know I'm probably a weirdo, but I like learning about people and sometimes the only way to learn is to bring up a subject they feel strongly about. But as the discussion below has ramped up, I find I've run into a barrier in my understanding, and I'd like to get some thoughts on it, especially from folks who consider themselves to be Christians.
We started with "frightened, brainwashable sheep". Part of my reasoning for that is if you believe in the bible, you HAVE to be frightened. It's the only way Christianity can work. It's also my reasoning that if a person does not believe the bible in its entirety, then they are not a Christian.
This idea seems to be widely disagreed with. Apparently you can believe in just some of the bible and still be a Christian. However, my idea that a person can believe in NONE of the bible and still be a Christian is also disagreed with.
So... what we are left with is a certain amount of Bible a person can believe, somewhere between "all" and "none" in which a person is still considered a Christian. I'd like to get more details on that.
Are there a certain number of biblical ideas or morals one can throw away? Is it a consistent number or does it change for every person? Do the ideas have a certain "point" value, perhaps core values having more and superfluous ones having less? Are there certain things that make a biblical idea more acceptable to disregard? Perhaps if your minister says you can or if it seems culturally alien?
Exactly where is the line between believing in all of the bible and none of it when a person ceases being a "Christian?" This is what I would like to know.
We started with "frightened, brainwashable sheep". Part of my reasoning for that is if you believe in the bible, you HAVE to be frightened. It's the only way Christianity can work. It's also my reasoning that if a person does not believe the bible in its entirety, then they are not a Christian.
This idea seems to be widely disagreed with. Apparently you can believe in just some of the bible and still be a Christian. However, my idea that a person can believe in NONE of the bible and still be a Christian is also disagreed with.
So... what we are left with is a certain amount of Bible a person can believe, somewhere between "all" and "none" in which a person is still considered a Christian. I'd like to get more details on that.
Are there a certain number of biblical ideas or morals one can throw away? Is it a consistent number or does it change for every person? Do the ideas have a certain "point" value, perhaps core values having more and superfluous ones having less? Are there certain things that make a biblical idea more acceptable to disregard? Perhaps if your minister says you can or if it seems culturally alien?
Exactly where is the line between believing in all of the bible and none of it when a person ceases being a "Christian?" This is what I would like to know.