I believe in God but I believe in the Bang Bang, evolution, abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, social liberalism, and the Bible is stories and not necessarily history.

I believe pretty much everything Christianity doesn't support but I'm a nice person and I believe in God.

Is that still okay? Am I a bad Christian?

warmaker : Where in that list that you gave would qualify you as a Christian?

We could take out all the social and political issues for a sec. Everything that you wrote on your list only tells me that you are not a Christian. The most evident statement that shows me that is this: "...but I'm a nice person and I believe in God."

play4fun : I led with "I believe in God." Isn' that enough?

warmaker : Before I answer that question, I want to ask even further...

There is a verse in the Bible that talks about demons. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder." (James 2:19)

Demons believe that there is one God, yet they are considered enemies of God and they shudder. If you think that being a Christian is "believing in God," what makes you different with demons?

play4fun : I'm also a nice person. That separates me from demons.

warmaker : So you think that being a Christian is just being a nice person and believing in God?

Let me change it up...you think that you are a nice person. do you think you are a good person?

play4fun : Yes. I'm empathetic. I have a sense of justice and fairness. I'm respectful of other people.

warmaker : and do you think that good people go to heaven? What does believing in God have to do with being a good person?

play4fun : I think everyone gets into Heaven if they deserve it. It's not up to us to determine who is good.

warmaker : Ok. I'm just going to be very blunt and honest.

From what you explained to me, you don't even know what Christians believe in. We can ignore the list of some things in the social and political world that you support that Christians don't from the very beginning of the thread. From what you have been describing to me, from the beginning when you said "I'm a nice person and I believe in God," you don't know what Christians believe in.

I would suggest that you read what I wrote awhile ago on what the basic message of Christianity is, and let me know what you think.

https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=14003&ppp=100&page=0#210579

well in my family we don't talk about politics or religion because we all don't believe in the same but in my family we rarely go to church but we do believe in god but we believe our body is our church because we work six days a week and sunday is our sleep day around here

To be a Christian, you have to follow the ABC's of Christianity. A - Admit. You have to admit that you are a sinner and and ask for forgiveness for your sins. B - Believe. You have to believe that Jesus Chris died for your sins, that he is your personal Lord and Savior, and that through his death on the cross all of your sins are forgiven. C - Confess. You must confess the Jesus Christ is your personal Lord and Savior, and commit Him to your life.

Being a Christian has nothing to do with being a good person. Everybody is a sinner, even Christians. Being a Christians doesn't mean you are no longer a sinner, it just means that you are forgiven.

It's as simple as that .

Liberal Christianity is a dangerous perspective; to have this perspective does not mean that you are wrong per say, it just means you have not yet learned the of the Holy Spirit's presence in your life. Check out this link and see if you get a better understanding -
http://www.gotquestions.org/liberal-Christian-theology.html

warmaker : i should point out im not a christian but i wouldnt really pay attention to what the other replys say, if you blindly follow what others say over what you think then its not belief/faith is it?protestants have many different views to catholics but they are still christian.ok, so your views are not as far as i know established in a church, but im pretty certain you wont be the only one who believes that.You shouldnt feel the need to seek approval of others, its your faith so use it as you will.
on the note of being liberal i think it would be appropriate to point out that according to the bible 1:having more money than you need to survive is a sin(it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God)
2:supported by the fact that the bible has christ as saying many turned up with gifts, some sacks full of money and a poor woman put in a single coin, to which he said "All of them have given what they could spare. But she, in her poverty, has given everything she had to live on"
3roverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony." in other words, being fat, or even accompanying fat people is a sin, so like trouble982 said all christians are, by the bible sinners.amongst these 'sins' what you have said is small chips, if any christians with money or weight problems can get into heaven then so can you (again, im talking from a christian "perspective")

thenumberone : As you have stated that you're not a Christian, you're reading those scriptures from a "human" perspective; it is the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life who teaches the application of the Bible—without His personal teaching within a relationship with Him, we cannot spiritual discern how the Bible is interpreted (we can only interpret it accurately from His guidance since He was the One who inspired the writing of it).

I think there is a big difference between being liberal and being legalistic; the Bible states that Christ has set us free from keeping the requirements of the law of the Old Testament, of which we are not able to fulfill due to our sinful nature - which is why Christ fulfilled it for us.

The faith of a Christian is to be acceptable to God, so the reality of being a liberal Christian is a matter of "is the theology acceptable to Him, or is it just what you choose to believe because it feels better that way"?

tRIUNE : so youre saying that because im not christian its not possible for me to comprehend its true meaning?i disagree there,a christian reads it as an individual and chooses there interpretation of it.if jesus guided you on it,everyone would still be catholic.as it happens people all have differen interpretations of it,thus many breakaway churches.
What warmaker has done happens time and again,he reads it and bases it on life as he sees it to make it fit.so long as he isnt tearing up the main ideas of christianity he is still christian

I'm saying without interaction with the Author of the Bible, reading it is only an academic exercise. People can have different interpretations but it doesn't change its meaning. Though there are differences in interpretation, scriptures have only one meaning.

I still stick to my first post.

tRIUNE : well i think warmaker would be equal under jesus as any other christian,other than that theres not much more to say. Warmaker can stick to his beliefs or he can surrender them to traditionalists,something i feel WOULD be a sin.(under the bible)

You believe in the Christian God and that Jesus died for your sins, you go to Church and all that, then you are a Christian. There are many Christians that have liberal beliefs, so don't let the ones that are conservative tell you that you are not a Christian because you don't agree with ever single little thing they do.

He himself said "I believe pretty much everything Christianity doesn't support", well, I'm not presuming that he's not a Christian...if he has confessed that he is a sinner, and confessed Jesus to be his Savior, then he has Christian faith. This doesn't make him a Christian though - Christian means 'Christ-like', if he doesn't agree with the fundamentals of what the Bible says, or 'surrender to the traditionalists' as some say, then how is he living in repentance of his sins? There cannot be salvation of a sinner unless the sinner has a repentant life before God.

Here is the basis for correct theology, it has nothing to do with being 'conservative' -

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
And He [Jesus] opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the scriptures (Luke 24:45, emphasis added).