RE: What beliefs would we consider reasonable for a self proclaimed Christian to hold?
March 5, 2018 at 3:00 pm
(This post was last modified: March 5, 2018 at 3:21 pm by Whateverist.)
(March 4, 2018 at 8:19 pm)stretch3172 Wrote: I guess I'll throw in my two cents. According to the evangelical view, there are certain core beliefs on which Christianity simply must stand, including the authority of Scripture, the depravity of man, and the death and resurrection of Christ, without which Christianity itself is meaningless (1 Cor 15:17). Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, and other such denominations will disagree quite a bit on less important issues such as the proper method of baptism, church government, music styles, etc., but they are all alike in that they hold to basic, fundamental Christian doctrines such as these. Of course, I think that "reasonable" Christians must still adhere to basic principles of deductive and inductive logic as well as science, and they should be willing to think critically and honestly about how to integrate these into their worldview.
*my bold*
Regarding what is basic to and what needs integrating into ones worldview, I'd naturally prefer to see a reasonable person start with the tangible and then work his way out to the wildly speculative.
I'm as in favor of a little depravity now and then as any church goer but I hardly see any reason to say it is the defining characteristic of mankind. That may be a little histrionic.