What beliefs would we consider reasonable for a self proclaimed Christian to hold?

[Whateverist]

Eight hours later, he died


And there was much rejoicing.

I've lost three cousins to that snake shit. Sam Singleton lost his grandfather to snake bite, IIRC.

That shit hits pretty close to home for you then.  Handling dangerous snakes because you believe they'll only bit you if you're not right with the lord .. that is not reasonable.  Do it because you just like reptiles and don't mind taking chances, okay, you're weird but not necessarily beyond the pale.

I guess it is one way of being a little show-offy about the strength of your faith.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I've lost three cousins to that snake shit. Sam Singleton lost his grandfather to snake bite, IIRC.

That shit hits pretty close to home for you then.  Handling dangerous snakes because you believe they'll only bit you if you're not right with the lord .. that is not reasonable.  Do it because you just like reptiles and don't mind taking chances, okay, you're weird but not necessarily beyond the pale.

I guess it is one way of being a little show-offy about the strength of your faith.

One of those idiots dropped a copperhead in my lap one time. Before it knew what was going on I'd grabbed it and threw it back at him. He squealed like a little girl.

[Succubus]

I've lost three cousins to that snake shit. Sam Singleton lost his grandfather to snake bite, IIRC.

Natural selection in action, nature found them wanting so nature eliminated them from the gene pool.

[Whateverist]

That shit hits pretty close to home for you then.  Handling dangerous snakes because you believe they'll only bit you if you're not right with the lord .. that is not reasonable.  Do it because you just like reptiles and don't mind taking chances, okay, you're weird but not necessarily beyond the pale.

I guess it is one way of being a little show-offy about the strength of your faith.

One of those idiots dropped a copperhead in my lap one time. Before it knew what was going on I'd grabbed it and threw it back at him. He squealed like a little girl.

Damn, probably too late to call the authorities about your endangered childhood.

[drfuzzy]

I've been to a snake-handling service too.  It was absolutely insane.

Re: the OP.  Well, about 10 years ago I was assisting a Catechumen group - a bunch of adults who are undergoing instruction to enter the Catholic Church.  I had brought in a musician friend to play a service and she decided to stay, and she wanted me around for some of the meetings.  (Even though I told her clearly that they want dedicated Catholics as sponsors, not atheists!)  But they put up with me, and I got to ask the priests and deacons and sisters questions - in private, not in front of the newbie group.  One question I asked of four priests, two sponsors, and two nuns was this: "What do you have to believe to call yourself a Catholic?"
   One priest said, "You have to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was literally god in the flesh, who died for the sins of mankind and rose again."  Another priest said, "You have to believe the Nicene Creed - literally."  One sponsor said, "You have to believe that Jesus died to cleanse your soul of original sin and want to follow his teachings."  Another said, "You have to know that Jesus died for your sins, and want to accept Jesus into your heart.  You have to dedicate your life to Him."  My favorite answer was from Sister Elaine, who said, "You have to know that God loves you unconditionally." (Well, THAT was a very ecumenical response. That would even work for the Unitarians.)

I think that the "toe the doctrinal line" answer was the Nicene Creed.  

---

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

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But it's amazing how many different answers you can get for that simple question.

[Minimalist]

It seems to me that the most active long time theists on AF (including MK who isn't even Christian) satisfy the criteria as set forth by Whateverist.

Protestant bullshit aside, it doesn't seem to have stopped any of the assholes from following some fucking preacher whenever he runs his mouth.  The assholes traded a "pope" ( who, granted is never any bargain ) for the likes of Joel Osteen, Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Ted Haggard, Creflo Dollar, etc., etc. 

Not one of them knows shit from shinola about any fucking god but they put on a good show for the dolts.

[The Grand Nudger]

It helps that whateverists criteria amounts to little more than not drooling on oneself.  He's a hopeless optimist, in that way. 

[Whateverist]

I've been to a snake-handling service too.  It was absolutely insane.

Re: the OP.  Well, about 10 years ago I was assisting a Catechumen group - a bunch of adults who are undergoing instruction to enter the Catholic Church.  I had brought in a musician friend to play a service and she decided to stay, and she wanted me around for some of the meetings.  (Even though I told her clearly that they want dedicated Catholics as sponsors, not atheists!)  But they put up with me, and I got to ask the priests and deacons and sisters questions - in private, not in front of the newbie group.  One question I asked of four priests, two sponsors, and two nuns was this: "What do you have to believe to call yourself a Catholic?"
   One priest said, "You have to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was literally god in the flesh, who died for the sins of mankind and rose again."  Another priest said, "You have to believe the Nicene Creed - literally."  One sponsor said, "You have to believe that Jesus died to cleanse your soul of original sin and want to follow his teachings."  Another said, "You have to know that Jesus died for your sins, and want to accept Jesus into your heart.  You have to dedicate your life to Him."  My favorite answer was from Sister Elaine, who said, "You have to know that God loves you unconditionally." (Well, THAT was a very ecumenical response. That would even work for the Unitarians.)

I think that the "toe the doctrinal line" answer was the Nicene Creed.  

---

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

---

But it's amazing how many different answers you can get for that simple question.

Sounds like any reasonable Christians I may meet will be of the untrue variety.

---

It helps that whateverists criteria amounts to little more than not drooling on oneself.  He's a hopeless optimist, in that way. 

  Tsk, you underestimate the inherent difficulty of not drooling when all around you all you meet are droolers.

[The Grand Nudger]

Sounds like a strong argument against any expectation of a reasonable christianity, to me. 

Honestly, I think we just know too much now to ever consider christianity reasonable..not only on grounds of the existence of a god man or a god..but on the grounds of the ideology contained within. That's why we keep seeing novel christianities and nominal christians. The measure of how reasonable their faith has become is it's distance from itself. Even the faithful know that people more faithful than themselves are the nutters....and for every faithful person who knows that..there;s another even less faithful person who points and them and thinks the same.

In the best of circumstances we've simply outgrown it, and in the worst, we retreat to comfortable familiarity.

[polymath257]

I've always wondered what would be in place of the Nicene creed if the Arians had won. And what the Bible would look like. Not that they were any more reasonable than the Catholics at the time.