The only thing I wanted to address was the above, and how to identify a true Christian. It seems you might be confused.
You could say that. Some Christian denominations don't consider all others Christians unless you adhere to their denomination. Some denominations are deemed cults. But what I have never found is a uniform agreement on what a "Christian" is. So for the purposes of our discussion, I will accept your definition, however realize that if I asked other denominations (Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.) I may get a very different answer.
A good litmus test I find is this, ask the question, when you die and meet God and God asks you why he should let you into heaven, what do they say? If they say anything other than Jesus Christ, they are probably not a Christian...But if it takes awhile before someone mentions Jesus or they mention many requirements after they say Jesus, a flag must go up. The answer should be "Jesus Christ".
I think you've identified a very good point here.
You stress the importance of the person in question answering "Jesus Christ." If I were going to try and answer that question as a Muslim (hypothetically speaking of course because Muslims don't believe God would pose such a question), I would have to say that in Islam, the most important thing that one would have to include in his/her answer is, "God Almighty, Most Gracious, Most Merciful."
And here we see an excellent observation. For the Christian, the most important answer is, "Jesus Christ," while for the Muslim the most important answer is, "God." The importance of not associating anyone with God is clearly seen in the Muslim answer, while it is suspect in the Christian one.
Now I know what you're wanting to say: "But Jesus (Pbuh) is God." However this betrays the First Commandment, "There shall be no gods before Me." Never are we told that God can be called upon as Jesus (Pbuh). Therefore, I don't believe Jesus (Pbuh) is the most important part of the answer. God is.
Peace be unto You,
Norris |
