(June 13, 2011 at 12:30 pm)Foxtrot Uniform Wrote: If I believe in the evangelical God, I am still Christian regardless of your beliefs.
Irrelevant. His beliefs or my beliefs, that is not what defines whether you're a Christian or not. And so far as I'm aware, no one in this thread has ever said, "I am the one who defines the term 'Christian'." So your objection flopped to the ground for want of a target. Whether or not someone is a Christian is a matter of how the term itself is defined; if what they believe contravenes the most basic definition of the term, then they are not a Christian. Look again at my atheist example. If someone admits belief in God while claiming to be an atheist, then what he believes contravenes the most basic definition of atheist; that is, he is not an atheist. Whether or not someone is a Christian does not depend on what I believe, but rather on what that person himself believes and whether it contravenes or is consistent with the most basic definition of Christian—a definition that preexists me, you, Statler and so forth by thousands of years.
(June 13, 2011 at 2:57 pm)Epimethean Wrote: Oh yes [the Trinity is polytheism], since they can operate independently.
Polytheism is defined as multiple gods. (Try to keep in mind what the "-theism" part means.) Ergo, the Trinity is not polytheism since it is not three gods. The Trinity is three persons constituting one God, and one God constitutes monotheism. You might be confused about this doctrine and that is fair enough, but please do not substitute your confusion for Christian doctrine, which has been held long before you ever arrived.
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
