The Resurrection

[Homeoskeptic]

Who believes in the resurrection and calls themselves a Christian?

Can you still call yourself a Christian if you do not believe in the resurrection?

 

[Hexxenhammer]

And if I believe the resurrection actually had no resurrection, does that make it even more powerful?

 

[Yahweh]

Who believes in the resurrection and calls themselves a Christian?

Can you still call yourself a Christian if you do not believe in the resurrection?

Christianity is a religion based on the Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ.

Although the resurrection is a rather important to Christianity, its not necessary to believe the events actually occurred to glean useful teachings from its allegorical nature, furthermore its not necessary to believe the events actually occurred to call yourself a Christian.

(An absolutely literal approach to the bible effectively destroys its teachings, an allegorical intepretation is therefore preferred.)

 

[Lisa Simpson]

The minister of my mom's church (a Congregational church) doesn't believe in any of the mystic aspects of Jesus' life. He believes Jesus was merely a man and a teacher. Something akin to the way Buddhists regard The Buddha.

 

[triadboy]

Who believes in the resurrection and calls themselves a Christian?

Can you still call yourself a Christian if you do not believe in the resurrection?

I differ from Yahweh and Lisa Simpsons' mom's minister here. A Christian HAS to believe in the resurrection. It is the key event in the Bible. If the resurrection didn't happen - then Jesus was not a god. If Jesus was merely a man, then he couldn't have died for xian sins.

 

[ceo_esq]

Re: Re: The Resurrection

I differ from Yahweh and Lisa Simpsons' mom's minister here. A Christian HAS to believe in the resurrection. It is the key event in the Bible. If the resurrection didn't happen - then Jesus was not a god. If Jesus was merely a man, then he couldn't have died for xian sins.

I agree with you here. As the estimable John Updike put it, in the poem "Seven Stanzas at Easter":

Make no mistake: if He rose at all
it was as His body;
if the cells' dissolution did not reverse,
the molecules reknit, the amino acids rekindle,
the Church will fall.

 

[elliotfc]

Who believes in the resurrection and calls themselves a Christian?

Can you still call yourself a Christian if you do not believe in the resurrection?

I think so. A Christian is a baptized member of a faith that holds the words or life of Christ as a central focus. Most Christian creeds hold that Christ did in fact rise from the dead, but a Christian denomination could certainly excise that dogma from a creed. A Christian does have to hold beliefs. But just as you can't call someone a Christian just because of how "good" they are, you can't call someone a Chrisitan just because of how "good" their beliefs are. A Christian is a baptized member of a religion, that's about it. Maybe the baptism isn't even that important anymore. Some sort of initiation ceremony to get in.

-Elliot