Just 3 simple questions for Christians:

[Jatd]

Are you a Christians?

What does the word Christian mean to you?

Why do you believe the bible?

[Molearner]

Originally Posted by Jatd

Are you a Christians?

What does the word Christian mean to you?

Why do you believe the bible?

Jatd,

You ask a question,,,,,I too will ask a question and answer you also. Why do you ask ?

Is it to judge ?

Is it to convince us of our errancy ?

Is it to destroy the faith of others ?

Answers:

1. Yes

2. Because I believe in the divinity of Christ

3. (with a caveat)......you assume all Christians believe in the Bible(meaning its inerrancy)....this is a false assumption that all professing Christians accept the inerrancy of the Bible. Personally, I believe in the Bible to my ability to understand. Because that over the years seemingly contradictory portions have been reconciled to my understanding, I accept and realize that this can happen in the future......in other words, I have not been given yet to completely understand the Bible. The challenge of this indicates for me that it is the gift that keeps on giving.

[Jatd]

Originally Posted by Molearner

Jatd,

You ask a question,,,,,I too will ask a question and answer you also. Why do you ask ?

Is it to judge ?

Is it to convince us of our errancy ?

Is it to destroy the faith of others ?

Answers:

1. Yes

2. Because I believe in the divinity of Christ

3. (with a caveat)......you assume all Christians believe in the Bible(meaning its inerrancy)....this is a false assumption that all professing Christians accept the inerrancy of the Bible. Personally, I believe in the Bible to my ability to understand. Because that over the years seemingly contradictory portions have been reconciled to my understanding, I accept and realize that this can happen in the future......in other words, I have not been given yet to completely understand the Bible. The challenge of this indicates for me that it is the gift that keeps on giving.

Thank you for answering my questions, so I too will answer yours.

Why do you ask ? I ask honestly because I am curious. I am searching for truth.

Is it to judge ? Not at all.

Is it to convince us of our errancy ? Not at all.

Is it to destroy the faith of others ? Not at all.

I did assume that everyone and anyone who is a Christian believed in the bible. Is this not so?
Seek and ye shall find. So I am seeking. I'm sorry if I have offended anyone by asking these questions.

I don't know if I consider myself a Christian. I love Christ and what he came here to teach us. The light he was and is. But I don't know if I can put full faith in the bible when my heart says differently.
So am I a Christian or am I not?
I have been baptized in the southern baptist church and accepted Jesus as my savor twice. Some would say this is my seal of "being saved" no matter what. Is that so?

Again, thank you for replying. It seems most are shying away from the question or either don't feel it worthy of a reply.

[Molearner]

[quote=Jatd
I did assume that everyone and anyone who is a Christian believed in the bible. Is this not so?

I love Christ and what he came here to teach us. The light he was and is. But I don't know if I can put full faith in the bible when my heart says differently.
So am I a Christian or am I not?

I have been baptized in the southern baptist church and accepted Jesus as my savor twice. .[/QUOTE]

Jatd,

From your answer and mine we have shown that one can be a Christian without accepting the inerrancy of the Bible. You, by your own words, are a Christian because you have indicated that you have accepted Jesus as your savior. In my own church, the confession of faith is this:

"Do you accept Jesus the Christ as your personal lord and savior ?".........notice this: in our tradition it says nothing about accepting the Bible in the formal confession. People who are so adamant about the Bible should ask themselves this: Is it possible to be a Christian without being exposed to the Bible ? My answer is yes. God is all powerful and knowledge of God and Christ can come by revelation and the Holy Spirit and totally bypass the Bible altogether. It is the same way that Peter was able to confess Jesus as the Christ.......that rock firm knowledge came by revelation from the heavenly Father......it did not come by scripture.

[Pleroma]

Originally Posted by Jatd

Some would say this is my seal of "being saved" no matter what. Is that so?

Yes you are saved but you have to wait till the second coming. If you want to redeem yourself now then seek till you find.

Originally Posted by Jatd

Are you a Christians?

What does the word Christian mean to you?

Why do you believe the bible?

1. Uh yea ^^

2. Someone that believes Christ was the messiah right?

3. When You say believe in the bible....eh I don't think that that poop really happened. I think that the bible, like other religious books, was made to give people in depth moral stories so that they won't do terrible stuff. The bible helps to be a symbol for people not to go back to the pipe, or cheat or just be a butt.

I don't go to "church" (Firstly because when I go there, just walking into the building makes me feel like I'm going to pass out. I don't get sleepy. I can stand up and jum around but after thirty minutes I need to get out of there. It's like they are zapping me, no lie!) BUT IN THE BIBLE IT SAYS THAT God's energy is everywhere and it says that you can have church about anywhere. Soooo....

Well my mom knows the bible better than me since she went to catholic school until highschool XD and my father too >.>

[Morpheus]

Originally Posted by Jatd

Are you a Christians?

What does the word Christian mean to you?

Why do you believe the bible?

I don't know if I consider myself a Christian. I love Christ and what he came here to teach us. The light he was and is. But I don't know if I can put full faith in the bible when my heart says differently.
So am I a Christian or am I not?
I have been baptized in the southern baptist church and accepted Jesus as my savor twice. Some would say this is my seal of "being saved" no matter what. Is that so?

Again, thank you for replying. It seems most are shying away from the question or either don't feel it worthy of a reply.

Jat'd, for one, from the very beginning, your profile name suggests something doesn't it.

But, you are confused, which is why I post, to help elucidate.
What does "Saved" mean to you?

It means "Rescued" as by another.

How has God redeemed humanity, and, "Rescued"?
Through the atoning sacrifices, the substitute target of His rightful wrath, instead of us, ordained by Him because of His love for us.
For you.
Which means and method He had ordained from the very beginning, and of which Jesus is both the "Chief Cornerstone", and the "Capstone".

A sure foundation on which to rest our faith, and our lives. A solid establishment in which to live.

Matthew 7:25

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."
Jesus

- King James Bible "Authorized Version", Cambridge Edition

As for myself, it started out by my opening up my childhood Bible for the first time, when in my teens, and reading.
Called "Conviction" of the Truth regarding the love of God.
After which, came the learning process involving validation, which we see in science today also.

"His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God."

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Romans-8-16/

"Cambridge Edition ... ' The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.' "

St. Paul

[Jatd]

I appreciate all of your reply's..

I think my confusion lies in the fact that I don't know if I would in fact call myself a christian. Yes I was raised a christian and baptized, BUT I don't know if I would say that Jesus is the one an only son of God and was born of a virgin.
That IS a bit of a far stretch for me now that I have stepped outside of the box.
Yes I believe Jesus has saved me through his love and compassion which has taught me how to love and be compassionate. I believe that I am also a child of God, but I don't see myself as an equal to Jesus either, and yet I don't think he would say he is better than I. Make sense?

I don't believe in hell and I don't believe in a God who would send his children to a place called hell to be tormented for eternity. That's not justice, that's evil.
(Pete, no need to chime in here, I know what you're going to say - because a part of me in a sense believes the same as you!) Have so many been deceived? Has the truth, truly been hidden?

Morpheus - what in the haystacks do you mean about my profile name? Those are initials in case you were curious. :) My name is Jamie. :)

Thanks for all of the info shared. I do believe some of the bible and some of it I don't. And yet that seems so contradictory as well. Watered down Christianity? Who knows.

[Ninjajms]

Jatd-I admire your honesty and your courage -ty. I am a Christian-what this means to me is that I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins-You ask if I believe in the Bible-I laughed when I read that question because about 4 years ago I did not understand anything in the Bible.

You see I always believed in God-but somehow he seemed out there unobtainable and not really too interested in me. My life was at a cross roads-I was too afraid to believe the wrong thing and not sure where to turn to believe the right thing about this God. long story short-I began attending Bible study-non denominational bible study to figure out who and what this God was about. Might I make a suggestion-read Jeremiah 29 vs 11-the solution you seek is in that verse.

[Jatd]

Originally Posted by Ninjajms

Jatd-I admire your honesty and your courage -ty. I am a Christian-what this means to me is that I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins-You ask if I believe in the Bible-I laughed when I read that question because about 4 years ago I did not understand anything in the Bible.

You see I always believed in God-but somehow he seemed out there unobtainable and not really too interested in me. My life was at a cross roads-I was too afraid to believe the wrong thing and not sure where to turn to believe the right thing about this God. long story short-I began attending Bible study-non denominational bible study to figure out who and what this God was about. Might I make a suggestion-read Jeremiah 29 vs 11-the solution you seek is in that verse.

Thank you for replying and for suggesting the verse. I have always trusted that verse actually.
May I ask you a question. You say you believe that Jesus died for your sins, but what does that mean?