Originally posted by ThinkOfOne
But why make the claim?
Christianity is based upon the teachings of Christ, a Christian is one who adopts and applies those teachings.
Why not just acknowledge that "Christianity is based upon the teachings [of the Bible on the whole], a Christian is one who adopts and applies those teachings"?
Beyond that, why don't they just ackno ...[text shortened]... e who adopts and applies [one of the subsets and/or extrapolations of] those teachings.
"?
Sorry for the delay, ToO.
Here's the core of the issue (although I think someone else herein has already touched upon these very points).
The central figure, the lynch pin upon whom the entire edifice rests, is the Man, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything revolves around the Unique Person of the Universe. He is God. He is man. There is no one else remotely close to Him in essence.
He had a specific mission when He was on the planet, a piece to say. While every syllable, every letter is connected and related to the whole, when we try to parse out each of them in an effort to ascertain their individual significance, we end up denying the forest because we're too close to see the trees.
Ultimately, it ALL comes down to His word.
But if we can't see His word in the mosaic of the whole picture, we were better off not hearing it at all.