"Good" & "Bad" Christians?

[Belacqua]

@Belaqua

I shouldn't have to explain to you that stop signs are red.

Some things are self-evident. Others aren't. 

The decline of "Christian values "

This indicates that there is one set of things called "Christian values," that you know what they are, and that you may judge who is upholding them and who isn't. I don't agree that this is the case. 

The decrease in behaviors related to literal interpretations of the Bible

Again, this is assuming that literal interpretation of the Bible are Real Christianity. I don't think this is true.

The way churches now use rock n' roll and other modern mediums to spread the "word of god" - things that would've been considered heresy 100 years ago

This is assuming that Real Christianity has only one kind of music and only non-modern media for spreading the word of God. I don't think that a change in musical style would necessarily be considered heresy, though it might be considered distracting. The term "heresy" has a specific meaning, unrelated to media. 

The fact that in civilized society we no longer kill or imprison people for heresy in the vast majority of the world

Please demonstrate that killing or imprisoning people for heresy is Real Christianity. Maybe (I don't know, but maybe) killing or imprisoning people for heresy is not in accord with Christ's message, and it's taken stubborn people a long time to figure that out.

"But oh! This isn't REAL Christianity!" you cry. 

I have never cried this.

YOU are the one who asserts what Real Christianity is. I am doubtful that there is any such thing.

Less and less people have taken the Bible literally over time.

How do you know this? Ancient people who were accustomed to reading Greek myths, etc., were more comfortable than we are with different kinds of literary genre. This is clear, for example, from Plato's Symposium, in which the gods are considered true, in a way, but in no way taken literally.

So I'm going to need something more than your assertion that fewer and fewer people are taking the Bible literally.

Also, the Bible has different books, with different literary tropes involved.

In general, far less people take the Bible literally in 2019 than they did in 1219. And in 1219 probably less than 1019. 

How do you know this? Augustine and Dante knew better than to take most of it literally. Literalist sola scripture Christians are a fairly new phenomenon, largely in reaction to the new scientific view that there is only one way to write meaningful sentences.

"But oh! These were not the TRUE Christians!" you cry. 

Please stop saying this. I have never asserted anything like this.

a literal interpretation of a Holy Book is the most natural way to read a Holy Book.

In your judgment.

Change. Definitions have to change too. 

Yes, finally we agree.

Definitions change, ways of thinking change. A Real Christian now may differ from a Real Christian long ago. Or even from a Real Christian across town. 

You are the one asserting that there is one knowable way of being a Real Christian. I don't think that's right.

Today's Christians are hardly Christian at all.

In your judgment. Which you can only reach if you know with certainty what a Real Christian is. 

Remember, some things simply cannot be seen as metaphors. So even for Christians who take the Bible metaphorically, even they have to admit that a good portion of this Holy Book is LITERAL.

Again, some parts are direct statements, some parts are intentional myths, some parts are puzzles, some parts are lyric poetry. 

Some parts use metaphor. Some parts use synecdoche, some parts use metonymy, some parts use other tropes. Some parts -- I'm assuming from my own analysis -- are meant to be taken as is, as when it says that caritas is the greatest thing a Christian can do.

Sad to say, someone who reads the Bible has to use his own head and think about the literary strategies in use in any given section. There are many. 

Hermeneutics changes, opinions differ, there is no such thing as Real Christianity. Unless you believe that Jesus is watching us from somewhere, holding in his mind Real Christianity which the rest of us have to figure out. (I don't believe this.)