@fmf saidOk, but this is my point.
If they self-identify as one AND hold these beliefs:
that certain beliefs with regard to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are true, that God sent his son Jesus, the messiah, to save the world, that Jesus was crucified and died in order to offer the forgiveness of sins and the opportunity for what they see as "salvation", that Jesus rose from the dead and later ...[text shortened]... f Christians, but I believe the above is a basic starter-commonality-core for almost all Christians.
How do you know someone holds those beliefs? Do you think everyone who goes to church on Sunday is a Christian?
Do you think everyone who goes to church on Sunday would say they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and that God’s Holy Spirit indwells them?
I bet a fair number in nearly every church would say No to both of those.
@chaney3 removed their quoted postYou have not answered. Where do you live, since you claim to live among blacks? The fact that you keep dodging this question is all we need to know. And you also keep dancing around the fact that it's not just blacks that are oppressed by white Christians.
There's clearly no truth to your statements. You don't know any blacks and have clearly have never been friends with any. You have no perspective on blacks apart from what other racists have told you.
@vivify saidSo how much of man’s free will do you want God interfering with?
Spanish Inquisition, the KKK, white slaveowners, Native American genocide....there are too many examples throughout history to fully list.
So is your aim from this point on to skip answering how a supposedly "holy" god allows such hatred and murder? Is your plan to point out that Christians aren't the only monstrous group of people?
@pb1022 saidI don't know what every single self-identifying Christian really believes. I don't even know what you really believe. I can only know what people profess to be - like you - and what they profess to believe - like you.
Ok, but this is my point.
How do you know someone holds those beliefs? Do you think everyone who goes to church on Sunday is a Christian?
Do you think everyone who goes to church on Sunday would say they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and that God’s Holy Spirit indwells them?
I bet a fair number in nearly every church would say No to both of those.
18 Jan 22
@fmf saidNot quite.
Right. So, Christianity is comprised of all the people who self-identify as Christians and who profess to hold Christian beliefs.
Christianity is comprised of people who hold Christian beliefs - not who only profess to hold them.
That’s why you can’t be certain anyone is a Christian apart from yourself.
@pb1022 saidI see you ~ and your demeanour and behaviour and the beliefs you espouse ~ to be part of Christianity, regardless of how bogus or hypocritical you so often come across. I see "Romans1009 in 2018" as a part of Christianity, for example.
Christianity is comprised of people who hold Christian beliefs - not who only profess to hold them.
That’s why you can’t be certain anyone is a Christian apart from yourself.