<p>Over time, I realized that I do believe in God, but not so much the Bible. For this, I wouldn’t really consider my self a “Christian.” I mean, I don’t believe in the Bible, I don’t go to Church, etc. The only thing of the Christian faith I believe is God and that’s it.</p>
<p>So my question is: Would I be considered a Christian for believing in God or does being a Christian extend beyond believing in God?</p>
<p>Being a Christian means believing in Christ. Muslims, Jews, and other faiths profess belief in God—the same “one true God” that Christians believe in—but none of them are Christians.</p>
<p>When you say you don’t believe in the Bible, do you mean you don’t believe it is historically true, or do you mean that you are not spiritually inspired by it?</p>
<p>You are not alone. Millions, even billions, believe strongly in God—or some kind of god—but are not Christians.</p>
<p>well if the only thing of the christian faith you believe in is god then your not a christian. most christians only consider those who believe in the trinity a christian</p>
<p>Belief in God and being christian are not intrinsically linked.</p>
<p>I believe in god and am, as mantori.suzuki put it, spiritually inspired by the Bible-- though I don’t use it to make moral decisions. I attend a methodist church and though I agree with most of the christian principles in general, I do a bit of picking and choosing. I consider myself a christian, some others would not. If the only religious thing you have in common with christianity is a belief in god I see no reason to ascribe yourself that label.</p>
<p>I feel the same way. Lately I have been questioning my faith in the bible and it’s hard when you live in a house that is so religious.</p>
<p>Who would believe in the Bible?</p>
<p>It’s a book of fairy tales and hatred</p>
<p>I was like this exactly once. I felt that I had my own personal relationship with God that could not be defined by the Bible, or by any domination of Christianity. But the truth is, Christians are not only followers of God, but believers in the Bible. There’s nothing wrong with having a personal, unique relationship with/belief in God. Many large historical figures did so and chose not to be confined by the church. But by not following this specific text, you can’t be considered a Christian.</p>
<p>Have you given the Bible a shot before? After actually reading the Bible, my thoughts changed completely and now I’m a complete follower of Christ. A great copy can be found here. [Amazon.com:</a> The Apologetics Study Bible (Apologetics Bible) Black (9781586400262): Ted Cabal, Chuck Colson, Norm Geisler, Hank Hanegraaff, Josh McDowell, Albert Mohler, Ravi Zacharias, J.P. Moreland, Phil Johnson: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Apologetics-Study-Bible-Black/dp/1586400266]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Apologetics-Study-Bible-Black/dp/1586400266) You might give it a shot. It doesn’t adamantly preach the Christian belief, but rather, explains from an omniscient point of view why Christians believe what they do.</p>
<p>@sadcollegestud</p>
<p>You can believe in a higher power and not have to identify yourself as a Christian. I realize though that in America (as well as many many other countries) people are oftentimes looked down upon for how they identify themselves religiously. It’s sad. If you don’t want to call yourself a Christian, you don’t have to. Don’t succumb to social pressure.</p>
<p>I’m Catholic, but I look at the Bible as a series of parables to help people enrich their lives, not literal interpretation.</p>
<p>As another poster stated, I pick and choose what traditions I follow. I go to church because I think it’s comforting and good for a family to do together. It’s a good “life check” at the end of the week.</p>
<p>I think it’s perfectly normal for a person to have faith in A God but not have strong ties to a religion, especially if they weren’t raised in a family that participated in a church.</p>
<p>As I said, I’m Catholic, but not because I think Catholics are “more right” about religion than other denominations. My wife is Lutheran, we have a few “sticking points” about each others religion, but we both agree that the most important thing is that we both have it. For example, I enjoy confession, but that isn’t practiced the Lutheran Church and it’s not something she seems to understand. Oh well, big deal…it’s really semantics and rituals.</p>
<p>I don’t expect everyone to believe in a God, but I would hope everyone would WANT to believe in a God.</p>
<p>The only thing I would recommend is to try reading the Bible. Take it as parable, and try to look at the deeper lesson it’s trying to convey. The moral lessons about how to treat others and lead a good life can be very powerful.</p>
<h2>But the truth is, Christians are not only followers of God, but believers in the Bible ~ Seadog</h2>
<p>I don’t want to put words in your mouth, so I apologize if I’m incorrect.</p>
<p>But, if you are implying that you can only be Christian if you take a literal interpretation to the Bible, you would be wrong.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>does that include the Old Testament?</p>
<p>Yes, including the Old Testament.</p>
<p>Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.</p>
<p>Luke 19:27: But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them–bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"</p>
<p>Timothy 2:11-12: A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them–bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"</p>
<p>Leviticus 25:44: Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.</p>
<p>Those are some great moral lessons there.</p>
<p>You see, it’s stuff (not my only reason however) like this (^^) as to why I don’t believe in the Bible. It’s so hypocritical and judgmental. People are born LGBS(straight) yet the Bible says “they must be put to death”; put to death for being born a certain way? I definately believe in God. God is my main man! (LOL). But the Bible is a whole other story.</p>
<p>I see the Old Testament as more of historical background on where the Christian religion has evolved from and less of an “instruction manual” as some christians view it. However I do believe in Jesus and the lessons and values he taught. So I guess that makes me a Christian who has her own set of views and doesn’t follow blinding religion enforced beliefs.</p>
<p>
Luke 19:27: But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them–bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"
[What</a> does Bible: Luke 19:27 Mean? - Yahoo! Answers](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/question/index?qid=20090620222945AAaWDJ5]What”>http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/question/index?qid=20090620222945AAaWDJ5)</p>
<p>The rest that came from the Old Testament, I’m not going to bother with because I read the new testament. Also know that the bible has been translated many times, and some meanings inevitably get lost. There’s a good reason why people are working hard to try to interpret the actual meaning behind the bible. reading between the lines.</p>
<p>Look at it this way. jesus christ was a real person, that’s a fact. The real question is was he the person he claimed to be. Back to the bible. Personally, I follow the bible and put that above all else because I believe the bible contains the truth. I would say that if you’re a christian, you put the bible above all else, including the church, the pastor, and even traditional beliefs.</p>
<p>Another thing to think about is that our society sets the standard for what’s right. Here, it’s common belief that getting drunk is not bad, having sex before marriage is not bad, smoking pot isn’t harmful. In the bible, all of those things are bad. But very few people actually follow those principles because our world just isn’t that way. Your beliefs are the same way. Don’t just say there’s a god because someone smart said so. Go do your own research</p>
<p>I don’t think many religious people take the bible 100% literally, as BigEast said, it’s used more today as a guide for moral values, it’s the lessons of the stories that are important not the stories themselves.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, I’m a life long Catholic and I’ve yet to see one lamb sacrific or goat slaughtering.</p>
<p>It’s what you gain from the lessons is what’s important. I just take it as God wants me to learn something from the story and then find away to incorporate the lesson into my life.</p>
<p>Typically they are about temptation and selflessness.</p>
<p>Do I think a guy named Noah built a giant arc and loaded 2 of each animal species in the world onto it? No, I don’t. But that doesn’t mean that the story itself isn’t important and lessons can’t be learned from it’s story. Nor does it mean that the story can’t be a symbol for something else, very easily something nonfictional.</p>
<p>For example, in modern terms - Animal Farm. Obviously, we know it’s not a true story, but it does REPRESENT a true story, just packaged in a way people can more easily understand.</p>
<p>It’s good exercise for your soul.</p>
<p>BigEast:</p>
<p>for me, it’s more about seeing things from a new perspective. I think one of the reason for the Bible and the church was for people to be able to grow spiritually, not just use the bible as a life guide. That comes with understanding that everything is a gift that can be taken away in an instant. Maybe you understand where I’m coming from.</p>
<p>To paraphrase a couple of the posts above, being a Christian does not mean being a *fundamentalist *Christian. The latter is the closed-minded and spiteful type whom the non-religious as well as many regular Christians hate and fear (and with good reason, I might add). The former is the type that most Americans are. You just don’t hear about them as much because they don’t burn things and shove Bibles down your throat, and I think sensible people agree that you can’t do those things and call yourself a Christian with credibility.</p>
<p>It’s also be worth noting that none of the New Testament was written by Jesus himself, but by his followers, who were but human. You could argue, then, that the unsavory stuff in the New Testament may not have been taught by Jesus, but rather written by his followers in order to promote their own agendas, recolor history, or simply as honest mistakes resulting from their own prejudices. Thinking of it this way makes cherry-picking seem a lot more sensible to me. I choose to believe that Jesus was basically a very early hippie, all peace and love. It’s the only way Christianity is palatable to me. (I’m not a Christian, but I do dig Jesus. 
)</p>