Who is Christian?

WHO IS A CHRISTIAN?

A simple question, with many answers

Quotations:

	"Any phenomenon as complex and as vital as Christianity is easier to describe historically than to define logically." From Encarta's definition of "Christianity." 1
	"What is a Christian, anyway? Someone of European descent? A persecutor of Jews? Someone who votes for only the most conservative Republicans? At times all of these answers have seemed plausible. Some use these definitions to this day. In Christian circles the answers are no clearer. A Christian is sometimes said to be someone who has made a decision; sometimes, someone who belongs to a church; far too often, someone who confesses the right creeds." Mark M. Mattison 2
	"Catholics are not Christians. They are pagans." Unsolicited E-mail to this web site.
	"Jehovah's witnesses ARE NOT CHRISTIANS they are cult. Catholics are not Christians they are a religion and full of false teachings. Christianity is not a religion.....Christian means to be in Christ and to be Christ like." Another unsolicited E-mail to this web site.
	"Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are not Christians. Christians are people who have been forgiven of their sin by the holy God through His Son Jesus Christ. If someone who is a "Christian" has to earn their salvation, that is not Christian." Unsolicited E-mail to this web site.

Note:

If you believe that you are a Christian, you will probably have a personal definition of exactly who is a real Christian. The purpose of this essay is not to criticize your definition. It is to explain the full range of meanings that people have given to the term "Christian." Please do not Email us with angry messages because we describe beliefs that differ from yours. We are merely reporting reality.

Overview:

One of the more interesting, and frustrating, features of religion is the variety of meanings given to common terms. Many religious words have multiple -- often mutually exclusive -- meanings. For example:

	We have found 9 meanings for the term "cult:" one positive, four neutral, three negative and one very negative.
	We have found 17 meanings for the term "witch" - mostly unrelated to each other; mostly negative.

There are also many distinct definitions of the term "Christian" (pronounced 'kristee`ân):

	Most liberal Christian denominations, secularists, public opinion pollsters, and this web site define "Christian" very broadly as any person or group who sincerely believes themselves to be Christian. Thus, Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox believers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church members, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists, etc. are all considered Christian. They total about 75% of the North American adult population.
	However, many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants define "Christian" more narrowly to include only those persons with beliefs like their own. Or they might accept as a "Christian" anyone who has been "born again" regardless of their denomination. They might estimate that about 35% of the North American adult population are real Christians.
	Other denominations regard their own members to be the only Christians in the world. Some are quite small, numbering only a few thousand followers.

Different definitions on such a fundamental topic makes dialog and debate among Christian groups very difficult. It also makes estimating the number of Christians in the U.S. quite impossible. By some definitions, 75% of Americans are Christians; by other definitions, it is a small fraction of 1%.

Yet, from the negative Emails that we receive on this topic, there are many Christians out there who hold with great determination to their own definition of "Christian" as the only valid one.