Question for the group: Could you be an Atheist Christian?

[Taverner]

I mean conceivably, say you do not believe in god but like Jesus. Say, just wanting to emulate certain aspects of him - whether fictional or true.

Would this not define a Christian more than mere theism?

A Marxist does not think Marx was god.

An Augustinian does not think St Augustine was god.

A Jungian does not think Carl Jung was god.

So why would it be so important that a Christian believes that Christ is god?

Considering he never said he was, in any of the canonical gospels.

[1620rock]

1. Yes, I am an 'Atheist Christian'...as Gandhi quoted.....

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians."

[Taverner]

2. I like that

[Common Sense Party]

19. Is there any verified proof that Gahdhi ever said that?

I know it's attributed to him all over the internets, but I'm not sure he ever said that.

[southernyankeebelle]

3. I would consider you an agnostic. A person who doesn't know for sure wheter there is a god or not.

[Taverner]

6. I don't give a rat's ass if there is a god or not...

All I know is there is a dog

Her name is 'Betty'

And she's a good dog

Dogs are superior to gods...

[Taverner]

13. Sorry - not the best wording or way of saying it

And yes, my dog is my homegirl!

[timtom]

12. Well, that certainly moved the discussion along...

n/t

[Thats my opinion]

29. Taverner--why are you posting here?

Isn't that called trolling in someone else's water? Go home.

[Taverner]

32. Why are you responding?

Isn't that called trolling in someone else's water? Go home.

[justgamma]

4. I don't believe in God and consider myself a Christian.

I believe in Jesus and his teachings. I know that I could never believe in the wingers version of God.

[southernyankeebelle]

11. I second your comment. I feel the same.

[WildEyedLiberal]

5. Sounds a lot like the Jefferson bible, actually

I believe he removed all the 'miraculous' aspects of the Gospels and left intact all of Jesus's teachings.

ETA: Jefferson was a deist, so he believed in a creator God of some power, but I do not believe he was a Christian in the sense that he believed one needed to belong to a Christian church. He was certainly a Christian in your sense of the word, though.

[ButterflyBlood]

7. No, that'd make you a Jesuist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuism

There's a separate category for this. And remember that the word "Christ" means "Savior", so if one believes Jesus was just a man the term is meaningless, and thus "Christian" is as well. Jesuist makes sense, but Christian does not.

Of course you could most certainly be a "cultural Christian" as I'm sure most atheists in the US are, similar to atheist Jews. One guy at my work made a comment about how he needs Christmas Eve off (we are open then but close early) because he's doing a duet with his sister at church. His Facebook contains references to the Flying Spaghetti Monster and I know he is at most an agnostic.

[Betty Karlson]

8. I thought atheist christianity is called humanism

But organised humanism can be just as conceited and intolerant as organised christianity.

[Bucky]

14. Not if the humanism is derived specifically from New Testament ethics

If you anchor your ethics in Jesus's teachings, it'd be entirely appropriate to call yourself Christian, even if you don't buy into the cosmology of salvation and heaven and whatnot. Of course it might be less confusing if such people called themselves "Jesusites" or something, but the Jesuits kind of cornered that market already.

[Betty Karlson]

16. Well, Jesus taught us we're all God's children

That would include himself - He showed us how to be a child of God. To detach those ethics from the connection with God, to sever that connection, is not very Christian: because it takes away from Jesus' message.

He once summerised his teachings as: Love your neighbour as you love yourself, and love God with all your heart, all your strength, all your wisdom. You can't just abbreviate that to "love the neighbour as you love yourself".

To take God out of Christ's teachings is like taking the vegetables out of your next meal: no doubt it's still palatable, but it's not the same anymore - and certainly not as healthy as it used to be.

[sweetloukillbot]

15. Isn't that close to UU's?

Or are Unitarians the opposite - God w/o religion? I dunno.

[deutsey]

25. UUism welcomes a broad range of theistic and atheistic views

UU Christians are a minority in UUism for the most part (which is ironic, considering Unitarianism and Universalism both began as liberal Christian movements), but they're out there. King's Chapel in Boston, I believe, is Unitarian and very Christian.

The UU fellowship I attend has a mixture of humanists, people attracted to Eastern philosophies, some Christians, atheists, a couple New Age types, many who are seeking. They're mostly politically liberal, but there are theologically open-minded political conservatives who attend as well.

Although all UU denominations in the UUA adhere to the 7 Principles (http://www.uua.org/beliefs/principles/index.shtml), the democratic process is a big part of UUism so it's up to the members of each church/congregation/fellowship to determine the prevailing ethos of their community.

[Thats my opinion]

9. I consider myself a Christ theologian

To say Jesus is God is the wrong question with the wrong answer for many thoughtful people.

In my book "Building an Biblical Faith," I put it this way "Jesus is all of God we can see or imagine in human form."

[Critters2]

18. Where is your book available, Tmo? I'd be interested. Thx. nt

[Thats my opinion]

20. try Amazon.com nt

[Critters2]

17. As a Girardian Christian, I'm pretty close to that. nt

[Thats my opinion]

21. Unless you are trolling in someone else's water, thisw belongs in "religion." nt

[Union Scribe]

22. This is what a "safe haven" looks like on DU3. nt

[Tripod]

23. I don't think so.

[Kurmudgeon]

24. An Atheist Christian is a contradiction in terms.

John 11:25 "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"

And that isn't even counting all the times He prayed to God directly.
He wouldn't have done that if He didn't expect, didn't KNOW that God was there.

If you are a Christian, then you believe fully what Jesus Christ preached.
You can respect or honor Christ and not be a Christian.
However, you can't be a Christian if you don't believe fully what Jesus Christ said.
You believe or you don't, there's no half way.

[supernova]

26. Remember

this is a group for liberal xtians, both in terms of theology and politics.

The Christian community is all over the map when it comes to what individuals believe about the Resurrection. You are going to get a variety of answers on that subject even here. Me for example, I'm agnostic, at best, on the subject of the Resurrection.

[BB_Troll]

28. Great topic....

Jesus did claim to be God and claimed to be the expected Messiah. Did he lie about that?

[54anickel]

30. Guess it depends on your definition of belief.

The etomology of the word believe is facinating in and of itself. Prior to the enlightment you "believed" in a person. Meaning you trusted, had faith in that person. The root of the word believe is beloved.
Now we relate the notion of belief not in a person, but in statements. It has been narrowed into belief in a statement as being true or false. Quite different than "believing" in a person to be loving, trustworthy, honorable.

[Joseph8th]

27. Wasn't this issue settled at the Councils of Nice? nt

[azmaximillian]

31. The Answer is . . .

No, The word Christian has a traditional and historic meaning. I respect your right to believe as you wish. But we need to have a language with meanings.