Posted by Tamar on August 12, 2005, at 14:09:55
In reply to Re: doctrine etc... » Tamar, posted by rayww on August 11, 2005, at 20:51:43
Thanks for your answer, Ray. I suppose the question of who is a Christian is fundamentally political as well as theological.
I think that on the basis of what you said in your post about your beliefs, many people I know would say that Mormons aren't Christians because there is too much divergence from orthodoxy.
Then, for me, the question becomes: what's the agenda either in claiming to be Christian, or in claiming that others aren't Christians? And I think that question about an agenda works at both a personal level (whether you and I are Christians) and at an institutional level (whether Presbyterians or Catholics or Mormons are Christians).
And I think to answer the question of the agenda, I'd also have to address the question of who gets to decide? Are we Christians if we claim to be Christians? Or do we have to subscribe to certain generally-agreed tenets of faith?
Traditionally I think the answer has been the latter. But maybe these days it's increasingly acceptable to say that Christian identity is a matter of personal conscience - in other words, if I say I'm a Christian, then I am a Christian.
What do you think?
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:539505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050811/msgs/540723.html