(April 22, 2015 at 6:28 am)Nope Wrote: Sometimes it seems as if Christianity is made up of several religions under one name.

Fixed that for you

Christianity is simply a religion whose followers believe in a character whom they call "Christ".

Christianity is the faith of those who follow Jesus Christ.  Followers of Christ were first called "christians" in Antioch by non-christians around 40 AD, according to the bible.  It's not just believing that Jesus existed, but rather accepting him as one's lord and savior.  Of course that's my definition.  Christians interpret the bible differently, so I would have a hard time trying to determine among everyone who identifies as a christian, which ones really are and aren't.  God knows that.  I think it's in one's heart as well as one's mind. 

Any body who thinks a dead jew came back to life to atone for their fucking sins is a xtian.

And welcome to such a dishonorable title.

(April 22, 2015 at 3:35 pm)Lek Wrote: Christianity is the faith of those who follow Jesus Christ.  Followers of Christ were first called "christians" in Antioch by non-christians around 40 AD, according to the bible.  It's not just believing that Jesus existed, but rather accepting him as one's lord and savior.  Of course that's my definition.  Christians interpret the bible differently, so I would have a hard time trying to determine among everyone who identifies as a christian, which ones really are and aren't.  God knows that.  I think it's in one's heart as well as one's mind. 

A very good definition. I wish the folks on here that claim to have the "one and only true Christianity" would think the same way.

(April 22, 2015 at 6:20 am)Dystopia Wrote: I think if you believe in the divinity of Jesus and that it gets you into heaven you are a Christian. Most Christians in the world don't even read the bible that often or go to church. That's why I don't make any assumptions about them because I have Christian friends with diverse views on different subjects
The trinity is a Catholic dogma as far as I'm concerned (I have little interaction with protestants) but not all Christians believe in it and they don't stop being Christians if they don't.
Christian atheism is a curious orientation.

The trinity is also almost universally accepted by protestants, but I wouldn't consider a belief in it to be a requirement for being a christian. The bible never states that it is a requirement for salvation.

Well it's not by all Christians. Some don't even have a church and prefer to have faith outside of religious organizations. Others think reading the whole bible is not that important but doing good like Jesus did. Yes, I know, it's tricky to define it but some Christians don't even read the bible at all - That's why there's priests and other similar people to tell believers what they should do and how to behave.

(April 22, 2015 at 3:41 pm)Dystopia Wrote: Well it's not by all Christians. Some don't even have a church and prefer to have faith outside of religious organizations. Others think reading the whole bible is not that important but doing good like Jesus did. Yes, I know, it's tricky to define it but some Christians don't even read the bible at all - That's why there's priests and other similar people to tell believers what they should do and how to behave.

When I was growing up as a catholic and attending a catholic school, I don't remember a teacher ever reading to us out of the bible or having us read it. We did learn the bible story, but it was presented to us from materials put together by the catholic church. I still consider catholics to be christians, but it was after I began reading the bible that I left that church because I didn't believe all that they profess squares with the bible. In fact, I couldn't claim any one denomination now, since I don't agree completely with any of their doctrinal statements. I believe the essentials are clearly stated in the bible, but that God meant for us to search the scriptures all our lives, and that we won't understand it all until we're with him.

Technically... jesus probably never died to begin with. Sure he was tortured and then nailed up onto a plank of wood and or pole but, you know a thing called dehydration etc.
People back then didn't know anything about a shallow heart rate so when he was in that cave he was suffering dehydration being out there in the heat also literally he could have just slept it off and when he felt absolutely good enough he got up talked to his people and then ran off.

(April 22, 2015 at 3:35 pm)Lek Wrote: Christianity is the faith of those who follow Jesus Christ.  Followers of Christ were first called "christians" in Antioch by non-christians around 40 AD, according to the bible.  It's not just believing that Jesus existed, but rather accepting him as one's lord and savior.  Of course that's my definition.  Christians interpret the bible differently, so I would have a hard time trying to determine among everyone who identifies as a christian, which ones really are and aren't.  God knows that.  I think it's in one's heart as well as one's mind. 

I think that that's a pretty good definition.  It would include the the protestants, the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox Catholics, and a number of defunct early Christian sects.   It would also include the Mormons, though many other sects would exclude them. http://www.mormon.org/faq/belief-in-jesus-christ  They believe in a second coming of Jesus to North America just after his appearance in the Middle East.   So their Jesus is a little more concerned about those outside of Europe than the traditional one, though he still doesn't make an appearence in Africa, Asia, or the southern hemisphere.