tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post6090558002343893152..comments2024-03-24T19:55:32.537-05:00Comments on The View from This Seat: Who Is a Christian?LKSeathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-80263418595155576652010-09-06T16:35:43.288-05:002010-09-06T16:35:43.288-05:00One irony of the debate over the use of the term &...One irony of the debate over the use of the term "Christian" is that the Bible tells us that it was first used by outsiders to describe members of the "The Way." As we read in Acts 11:26 ". . . it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'" Later, in Acts 26:28, the word is used again, this time by King Agrippa, in response to Paul's lengthy testimony. Paul himself, however, does not use the word once in the exchange.<br /><br />The outside world that created the term "Christian" has a rather elastic definition of the word, and I think both humility and charity would call on us to honor that source. Those who want a narrower definition should find an appropriate term for their position, and conduct their test of purity under that term. History has left us a raft of such narrower terms, such as Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Mormon, Episcopalian, and Pentecostal. Many of these terms were first coined by outsiders, and not necessarily as complements. Through acts of faith and courage, the names were born again as proud labels.<br /><br />There is something profoundly unchristian about attempts to hijack the term "Christian." It sounds so political, echoing prior debates about what or who was "American" or "un-American." If Glenn Beck and friends do not want to use the obvious term, "Fundamentalist," then let them chose another term, just not another stolen from others. Stealing is so "un" in all religions!Craig Dempseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00033176451913108084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-9179980701142070062010-09-06T09:50:09.279-05:002010-09-06T09:50:09.279-05:00This is typical human behavior. We want to be a p...This is typical human behavior. We want to be a part of a group, so the people in the group determine what it means to be a member of that specific group by either putting in writing or through coercion behavior codes that define the group. This lends identity to those in the group which offers protection both physical and emotional. It also allows others be excluded because their behavior does not fit the implicit or explicit codes of the group. As a result it becomes easy to identify a person in a group instead of being able to identify anything that truly distinguishes that person as an individual person. This grouping behavior is not unique to Christians or for that matter even humans, because it enhances the chances of survival by being a part of the group. <br /><br />If the above loosely defines the purpose of groups than what Christ left behind was not so much a group as collection of disparate individuals that coalesced into a group as they determined for them what it meant to be followers of Jesus. It took years and years before a label was determined for "The Way". The written works through the ages represent what those groups in those times understood to be followers of Christ. These were not monolithic and changed from age to age and place to place and even within given communities. They are still fluid today with a multitude of views of what it means to be "Christian".DHJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18034507180227927247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-49655345573840742192010-09-06T06:01:59.234-05:002010-09-06T06:01:59.234-05:00Dr. Glenn Hinson sent these wise words via e-mail:...Dr. Glenn Hinson sent these wise words via e-mail:<br /><br />"Let us hope that being Christian does not mean to be without fault. Insofar as I can see, not even saints can be thought of as perfect persons, persons who made no mistakes. Our culture shapes the best of us in its mold. That includes those Anabaptists."LKSeathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08860725174433173015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-56984958875799676482010-09-06T05:15:02.845-05:002010-09-06T05:15:02.845-05:00You have got me thinking, Dr. Seat. At the risk a...You have got me thinking, Dr. Seat. At the risk adding yet another link, Peter Rollins, an Irish philosopher, was speaking at Mars Hill church about many of the issues that you have touched upon in this and earlier blogs. I think you and maybe others on this list would find his interaction with one of the pastors at that church to be thought-provoking...<br /><br />http://marshill.org/teaching/2010/08/29/peter-rollins-and-the-power-of-story/Gregory Hadleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09356963573996529946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-79369775959912052332010-09-05T11:15:10.457-05:002010-09-05T11:15:10.457-05:00I've struggled with this a lot lately. It seem...I've struggled with this a lot lately. It seems difficult to point fingers and say "That is not Christian, that is not fruit produced by one who follows Christ."<br /><br />Is this ever okay? I feel that surely there has to be a limit to what we recognize within the Christian community as acceptable behavior. A recent experience with a more conservative friend of mine confused me: I was saying of his actions, "That's not what Jesus wants," and my friend said to me, "Who are you to decide what Jesus wants?" (Please see my blog post on the incident at http://everyday-revolutionary.blogspot.com/2010/08/on-extent-of-tolerance-where-freedom-of.html) <br /><br />It is a delicate business on deciding "who is Christian." To paraphrase and adapt a saying of the Desert Fathers: If you find someone who hates his neighbor, do not judge him. For remember, the one who said "Love your neighbor," also said, "Do not judge."Joshua Paul Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03970879028978093230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-7479870615142993292010-09-05T10:03:15.377-05:002010-09-05T10:03:15.377-05:00Thanks for another good post. I am studying the Go...Thanks for another good post. I am studying the Gospel of Mark right now, and it has occurred to me that if being a "Christian" means truly following Jesus' teachings and message in every way, maybe the world has yet to see a "real" Christian. Even Jesus' original disciples (especially as portrayed in Mark) failed to truly follow and understand Jesus' message.Karennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-73065713028516125122010-09-05T08:56:08.354-05:002010-09-05T08:56:08.354-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.1sojournernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8355086750486200439.post-17015974859124433572010-09-05T06:41:18.678-05:002010-09-05T06:41:18.678-05:00Indeed, one of the things worldviews do is define ...Indeed, one of the things worldviews do is define who's in and who's out. Thus I suppose that it's fair game for us to reflect critically on how our own worldview (Christian worldview) accomplishes this. What interests me is how in the end it does seem to boil down to moral behavior and not exclusively to intellectual assent to doctrines. (I have not read Holl's book; he might say this.)<br /><br />I would say that the sermon on the mount of Matthew's gospel is only a beginning point, though. Even the writer of Matthew seems to think the same as he has Jesus himself affirm the Jewish scriptural traditions, which Christians later adopted themselves: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill..." And even more pointedly : "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished."<br /><br />In a word, the sermon on the mount is not a complete enough tradition in and of itself to suffice as a practicable moral system. Its principles are suggestive, but it is also remarkable for what it leaves out. Therefore in many areas disciples of Jesus are forced to supplement it in their moral reflections. Briefly, to follow Jesus, then, requires that for moral guidance Christians interpret Jesus' words by appealing to other, fuller, moral systems of thought. The apostle Paul's ample draught of Stoic moral thought is suggestive, here. Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics might also function as helpful supplement.MPHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02521242032834115882noreply@blogger.com