Define Christianity

[Polaris]

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting."

[Godscreated]

Christianity and being a Christian have nothing to do with any denomination, one must believe in Christ Jesus as their savior and the things associated with that, virgin birth, Son of God, His ministry, His death on the cross and His resurrection, that He will forgive our sin through this belief and that we are saved by grace from God the Father. Living a life that shows this shows we believe, those who do not should question their stance with Christ.
GC

[Jenny A]

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting."

So you can recite the Apostle's Creed and mean it. It's not Biblical.  Do you think anyone who can't recite the whole Apostle's Creed and mean it isn't Christian?

To be a Christian is it really necessary to believe:

That Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary;

Tortured by Pontius Pilate;

Was crucified (as opposed to so other death);

Is seated at the right hand of god;

That the number of days before he rose from the dead was three no less and no more;

That god will judge the living and the dead;

That there is a holy spirit;

That there is a catholic church;

In communion?

Or is belief in Jesus as lord and savior enough?

This isn't a gotcha question.  I really want to know.  How much of this is necessary to be a Christian?

[Polaris]

All of it. Merely believing in Jesus is just the first step of many.

The significance of three days was the time, according to Jewish tradition, that it took for the soul to leave the body. If it was less than three days, according to their tradition, Jesus would not have been truly dead.

BTW, Catholic Church means the universal (from the Greek) Church. So not the Catholic Church as in the actual physical organization.

The Holy Spirit is central to Christianity. There would be no Christians without.

[Silver]

Oh, where is the scientific evidence of the soul? Where is the scientific evidence that the soul takes three days to leave a body? Is there any evidence to suggest that someone dead for two days has been revived because the soul might still be there waiting for someone to revive the body?

[Jenny A]

All of it. Merely believing in Jesus is just the first step of many.

The significance of three days was the time, according to Jewish tradition, that it took for the soul to leave the body. If it was less than three days, according to their tradition, Jesus would not have been truly dead.

BTW, Catholic Church means the universal (from the Greek) Church. So not the Catholic Church as in the actual physical organization.

The Holy Spirit is central to Christianity. There would be no Christians without.

I reject your definition as being overly exclusive from an outsider's prospective.  I have to deal with those who consider themselves Christian and they don't all fit your definition.  And if somehow, Jesus were the man portrayed in the Gospels, I think he'd disagree with you.  I doubt that belief in three days or the holy spirit would matter much to him.

Yes I know that catholic means universial, but the creed is determined to limit faith to a much smaller group than the "universal."  I use to enjoy telling the uneducated that my reading tastes were catholic, which they are.  But they aren't Roman Catholic.

[Polaris]

All of it. Merely believing in Jesus is just the first step of many.

The significance of three days was the time, according to Jewish tradition, that it took for the soul to leave the body. If it was less than three days, according to their tradition, Jesus would not have been truly dead.

BTW, Catholic Church means the universal (from the Greek) Church. So not the Catholic Church as in the actual physical organization.

The Holy Spirit is central to Christianity. There would be no Christians without.

I reject your definition as being overly exclusive from an outsider's prospective.  I have to deal with those who consider themselves Christian and they don't all fit your definition.  And if somehow, Jesus were the man portrayed in the Gospels, I think he'd disagree with you.  I doubt that belief in three days or the holy spirit would matter much to him.

Yes I know that catholic means universial, but the creed is determined to limit faith to a much smaller group than the "universal."  I use to enjoy telling the uneducated that my reading tastes were catholic, which they are.  But they aren't Roman Catholic.

Jesus stated the only unforgiverable sin would be the denial of the Holy Spirit.

It only limits the heretical groups of which none exist from that time; there are a couple new ones like JW and the Mormons.

Much of the Apostle's Creed is setting a precedent for the divinity of Christ....there were heretical sects that either denied the divinity or humanity of Jesus (stating either He was just a man or was never a man to begin with aka a God on earth; those that denied the crucifixion). Much of that is also backing up the historicty of the Biblical events.

[Lek]

To be a Christian is it really necessary to believe:

That Jesus was born of a virgin named Mary;

Tortured by Pontius Pilate;

Was crucified (as opposed to so other death);

Is seated at the right hand of god;

That the number of days before he rose from the dead was three no less and no more;

That god will judge the living and the dead;

That there is a holy spirit;

That there is a catholic church;

In communion?

Or is belief in Jesus as lord and savior enough?

This isn't a gotcha question.  I really want to know.  How much of this is necessary to be a Christian?

None of the first christians who came into the church on Pentecost knew all or most of these, but they were still christrians.  I'm not sure that the original apostles understood the doctrine of the Trinity, which became accepted by the orthodox church as a later time.  Peter told the crowd the following:

36 "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  Acts 2

Earlier Peter had told the crowd that Jesus had been put to death and that the Father had raised him from the dead.  This would indicate that one must accept the Jesus of whom Peter had spoken, who had risen from the dead.  Just to believe that Jesus was a good man and a great teacher, but did not rise from the dead, would not qualify one to be called a christian.  That would be like saying "I follow President Obama".  But when asked: "Who is President Obama?", he replies "the King of England".  Obviously he isn't a follower of President Obama.

[Jenny A]

I reject your definition as being overly exclusive from an outsider's prospective.  I have to deal with those who consider themselves Christian and they don't all fit your definition.  And if somehow, Jesus were the man portrayed in the Gospels, I think he'd disagree with you.  I doubt that belief in three days or the holy spirit would matter much to him.

Yes I know that catholic means universial, but the creed is determined to limit faith to a much smaller group than the "universal."  I use to enjoy telling the uneducated that my reading tastes were catholic, which they are.  But they aren't Roman Catholic.

Jesus stated the only unforgiverable sin would be the denial of the Holy Spirit.

It only limits the heretical groups of which none exist from that time; there are a couple new ones like JW and the Mormons.

Much of the Apostle's Creed is setting a precedent for the divinity of Christ....there were heretical sects that either denied the divinity or humanity of Jesus (stating either He was just a man or was never a man to begin with aka a God on earth; those that denied the crucifixion). Much of that is also backing up the historicty of the Biblical events.

I think you are reading too much John.  I don't think the historical Jesus thought that he himself was divine let alone in a holy spirit of himself.  And yes there were many groups now considered heretical.  That's because the message was less than clear.

[dyresand]

One big elaborate lie