We have had a recent flurry of Christian postings [no Anita not just al-dD] and the question has been raised:

Why

I know that the Pat and Jerry show and Bob Jones don't consider me one.

What do you think a Christian or a christian is?

Best wishes,,,

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 11, 2000

Answers

The size of the "c" is directly proportional to the amount of self- righteousness.

-- fwiw (a@b.c), May 11, 2000.

The size of the "C" is directly proportional to your knowledge of the rule for capitalizing proper names.

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), May 11, 2000.

That should read self-righteous indignation

-- . (xyz@here.com), May 11, 2000.

From what I read, Christ was a pretty dedicated guy. Gotta admire that. I won't let him or anyone else get between me and my god, but still wish we'd met.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 11, 2000.

If your question is whether or not Christian should be capitalized, I [personally] think it should be. Aren't ALL religions capitalized? MY dictionary shows them capitalized.

If your question is whether some sects of Christianity don't honor other sects as Christian, it seems some don't. Some sects don't consider Roman Catholics to be Christians, and I just saw on the EZBOARD today that some sects don't consider Mormons to be Christians. It seems to me these struggles within one faith have been going on since before Luther and Calvin. Christianity is not the only religion that has internal struggles between sects. Most religions have sects that are more orthodox in their beliefs than the others.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 11, 2000.

Nope Anita:

I am talking about the use of the word Christian/christian. The exclusionary use. The argument of the Essenes vs the other sects; a sectual [couldn't help myself] exclusionary rule.

Just wanted to know what folks here thought. You know there is also the problem of Morman/morman [have many such friends] and it exists in every other religion.

One of the difficult things is that I must travel. Will be leaving the country in 2 weeks. No contact.

Best wishes,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 11, 2000.

Fair winds Z. How long gone?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 11, 2000.

Carlos:

Hard to judge: When you go to extremely primative countries, you don't know. For example, my first stops are in Iowa and Nebraska [note joke on]. It is easier to estimate times in the following places: Scotland, Germany and Zimbabwe. Answer; most of the summer. Home from time to time.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 11, 2000.

Z:

I SUPPOSE your response could have confused me MORE had you tried harder. I'm not a Christian, so I don't know the details on why some sects don't honor others. Neither am I associated with any other faith, so I don't know the details on why THEIR sects don't honor others. I'm sure some Christians on this forum can detail the differences as they see them. From what I've studied, interpretation seems to be at the root.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 11, 2000.

The answers are to be found in Scripture; get cracking.

-- Start reading (Wisdom@Bible.God), May 11, 2000.

Z: Once you get to Iowa, you may not want to leave.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), May 11, 2000.

Wisdom:

Thanks for pointing that out. Interpretation is not the ONLY problem. Christians are also faced with what VERSION to use:

Different Versions

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 11, 2000.

Peter:

Don't get me wrong, I like Iowa; but they house the alien's :o)

In contrast, few people have been to the sand hills [Neb] in the spring. Let's keep it that way. We like to be alone with our thoughts. They too are the enemy, but a great place to go. As long as the rest of the country thinks of Iowa and Nebraska as fly over space, we will have an uncluttered vacationland. Once again, let's keep it that way.

Best wishes,,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 11, 2000.

Z.. to quote a phrase and a song. "Who are Christians?, they are ones who make mistakes, over and over again. "We fall down, and we get up, We fall down and we get up". We can never be perfect, no matter how hard we want.

-- Expert (atf@llingdown.com), May 11, 2000.

I think it is just a matter of respect for what you beleive in. If you beleive that Jesus Christ was a real person, you capitalize the C. If you don't beleive in Christ, you could probably spell christian with a lower case c to show disrespect for what they beleive. Just like "Orwellian" is spelled with a capital O because we know that Orwell was a real person.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), May 11, 2000.

Anita-

No problem; but don't forget that no matter which "version" one uses, the terminology must be tracked back to the manuscripts, or you don't have a tinkers' prayer of comprehension. Use a Strong's concordance for that. The English is just bastardization.

-- Keep reading (Wisdom@Bible.God), May 11, 2000.

^^^

Use the strongs concordance, how come I was always told to just study the bible and God would reveal it to me?

When LayMen always did this?

Serious question.

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), May 11, 2000.

consumer- Could it be someone wanted you to be deceived?

-- Start digging (Wisdom@Bible.God), May 11, 2000.

"so I don't know the details on why THEIR sects don't honor others. I'm sure some Christians on this forum can detail the differences as they see them. From what I've studied, interpretation seems to be at the root."

It seems to me that Christian is derived from Christ...Christ-ian. That some protestant sects don't consider Catholics as Christian is as self-righteous as the Catholics who proclaimed "outside of the Church of Rome there is no salvation". Isn't it an English king who broke from the Catholic church and started all this Christian infighting? Weren't Catholics the first Christians? How can a sect that breaks away from a parent sect declare the parent sect non-Christian? Are there actual leaders of any denominations who don't recognize other religion following the New Testament as being Christians, or is this a personal "bigotry"?

As to your questions Z; Christian is an adjective (there's also the male given name Christian), but is capitalized as are all other religious adjective, such as Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist etc. I checked them all. There is no small cap "christian" in the American Heritage Dictionary.

"What do you think a Christian or a christian is?" My answer would be one who follows (or attempts to follow) the teachings of Jesus Christ, of whatever sect or orthodoxy.

-- (y@x.x), May 11, 2000.

Z,

With your Christian/christian post, could you explain? I must admit you lost me completely.

Would like to respond, but truly don't understand what you meant in your post,

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), May 11, 2000.

What is a Christian? We fall down, and we get up, we fall down and we get up. Christian to me, means kindness to all. Because I don't know all the answers. His words "Love ye, one another". Hard for me to do when that fellow human cuts me off in traffic. I want to go for his jugular! and rip his throat and car! Pray to Heaven for patience. I do it every day, and I am no where near perfection now, than whence I started.

-- Less (th@nperfect.com), May 11, 2000.

christians we,re 1st called 'followers of the WAY.THEY STARED BEING CALLED CHRISTIANS at antioch,when the persacutions started. sp.?a true christian,is 1 who knows he,s a sinner,and accepts CHRISTS substitutionary death,it,s a trade>all our failings for his perfection.the JUST live by faith-not the law.the only reason GOD gave the law,was to show us 'we need a saviour.no 1 keeps the law perfectly--only JESUS could,because he was born SINLESS. [LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS]

-- al-d (dogs@zianet.com), May 11, 2000.

Give it up AL-D. Book sez Christ calls, you can't preach and convert anyone. We have no power other than our own belief. Quit consuming your earth life. Maybe you should take up another avenue. Like trying to control the traffic on your most busy highway. Trying to convert and convince, is futile. My Story and I am Sticking.

-- Sinner (at@conversion.com), May 11, 2000.

JESUS said,don,t hide your light'under a bushel basket.why does good news bug anyone? if someone had never shared the good news,with me,i hate to think.JESUS came to seek & save.that,s good news.i guess you,d have to understand'what darkness i came out of.the love of JESUS,after all these years,still amazes me.WHAT-A-SAVIOUR.

-- al-d (dogs@zianet.com), May 12, 2000.

It's my understanding that evangelizing is part of the Christian belief system, although some sects emphasize the need more than others. With this thought in mind, it's perfectly understandable [to me] that Christians feel the need to share what they believe to be truth. This can be annoying to the receiver, but can something be "shoved down your throat" if your mouth is closed?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 12, 2000.

RITE-ON ,ANITA.--good news tastes good,bad news [condemnation]is disgusting.the good news is,GOD solved mans problem,in his son,without any help from us.religion try,s to help GOD,true christianity,simply accepts>''it is finished''

-- al-d (dogs@zianet.com), May 12, 2000.