Originally posted by @fmf The point being, chaney3 is mistaken if he thinks Christians are the... "Some people [who] believe that God creates us, then just steps out of the way. Doesn't get involved with our lives at all. Indifference towards us." People with those beliefs are deists rather than theists. That you think deists are wrong, and that you are right, is beside the point.
Deists can be Christians, so it is you that is wrong.
Not all Christians believe exactly the same, in case you didn't know.
Originally posted by @chaney3 Deists can be Christians, so it is you that is wrong.
Not all Christians believe exactly the same, in case you didn't know.
Deists believe that God has not revealed Himself and that all religions are mistaken/not believable so deists cannot be Christians. Christians believe that God has revealed Himself, that He sent His "Son" Jesus to Earth, and that the Bible is the divinely inspired revelation if the Christian God. This is most certainly not deism.
Originally posted by @fmf Deists believe that God has not revealed Himself and that all religions are mistaken/not believable so deists cannot be Christians. Christians believe that God has revealed Himself, that He sent His "Son" Jesus to Earth, and that the Bible is the divinely inspired revelation if the Christian God. This is most certainly not deism.
You're wrong.
And, trying to give only one definition of who qualifies as a Christian, to try to prove your point, is also wrong.
Originally posted by @chaney3 You're wrong.
And, trying to give only one definition of who qualifies as a Christian, to try to prove your point, is also wrong.
Deists cannot be Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Christians. What makes deists deists is the fact that they believe there is a God but they are not Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Christians.
Originally posted by @chaney3 ...trying to give only one definition of who qualifies as a Christian, to try to prove your point, is also wrong.
There are somewhere in the region of 40,000 Christian denominations so there are different strands and brands of Christianity, of course, but deism isn't one of them.
Originally posted by @fmf There are somewhere in the region of 40,000 Christian denominations so there are different strands and brands of Christianity, of course, but deism isn't one of them.
Thomas Jefferson has been described as a Christian deist, believing in God, and in the teachings of Jesus, but that Jesus was not divine.
Sounds a lot like Jehovah Witness to me, but a google search has revealed that the term "Christian deist" has been used for hundreds of years.
Originally posted by @chaney3 Thomas Jefferson has been described as a Christian deist, believing in God, and in the teachings of Jesus, but that Jesus was not divine.
Sounds a lot like Jehovah Witness to me, but a google search has revealed that the term "Christian deist" has been used for hundreds of years.
Deists in the C21st are people who believe in a creator but believe that this creator has not revealed himself. Jehovah's Witnesses certainly are not deists. They believe that the Bible is the revelation of God.
Originally posted by @chaney3 Thomas Jefferson has been described as a Christian deist, believing in God, and in the teachings of Jesus, but that Jesus was not divine.
Sounds a lot like Jehovah Witness to me, but a google search has revealed that the term "Christian deist" has been used for hundreds of years.
I have to side with fmf here, look at the creation debate. Christians and deist can both see
God in the universe and acknowledge God. Christians have a more personal contact with
God not just the acknowledgement of God. ID can be a deist grasping God in what they
see in the universe, where a Christian sees a specific God who has become personal, not
just an acknowledgement that the universe doesn't make sense without a creator.
Originally posted by @fmf Deists in the C21st are people who believe in a creator but believe that this creator has not revealed himself. Jehovah's Witnesses certainly are not deists. They believe that the Bible is the revelation of God.
The term "Christian deist" exists and is a real thing.
Just admit you are wrong. Look it up.
Originally posted by @chaney3 The term "Christian deist" exists and is a real thing.
Just admit you are wrong. Look it up.
Deists believe that God has not revealed Himself. There may be deists who admire Jesus, but things like Muslim deists, Hindu deists, and Christian deists are misnomers and misleading.
Originally posted by @fmf Deists believe that God has not revealed Himself. There may be deists who admire Jesus, but things like Muslim deists, Hindu deists, and Christian deists are misnomers and misleading.
Whether you like it or not, the term exists.
You just don't know how to say "I'm wrong".
Originally posted by @chaney3 The term "Christian deist" exists and is a real thing.
Just admit you are wrong. Look it up.
Are you sure you didn't mean 'Christian dentist?' 😀
I think you are partially correct. A Trinitarian Christian couldn't be a deist (due to the intervention of God issue). Technically, however, if a person regarded the Bible as mostly metaphorical, and followed the teachings of Jesus, then they could be classified as a non-Trinitarian Christian Deist. - The key thing is the belief in the following:
“and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Originally posted by @chaney3 Whether you like it or not, the term exists.
You just don't know how to say "I'm wrong".
It's a misnomer. Koala bears are not bears. Strawberries are not berries. The National Socialists were not socialists. Christians believe that God has intervened in human affairs and revealed Himself. Deists believe in "the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. The term is used chiefly of an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind." [Wiki]. This is what you described a page or two ago. The term "Christian deist" is a misnomer.