Do you consider Protestants to be Christians?

Patristic theology, and traditional teachings of Orthodoxy from the Church fathers of apostolic times to the present. All forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.


Do you consider Protestants to be Christians?

No they are not Christians

8
31%

Of course they are Christians

11
42%

I have no clue

7
27%
 
Total votes: 26

Nektarios14
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Post by Nektarios14 »

I don't know if it is that important to place a label on other groups. In the end this will just become a semantics game anyway. More importantly we should be living Christian lives ourselves, thus showing protestants the light of Orthodoxy. Saint Saint John Chrysostomos said that if Christians truly lived as Christians the idol worshippers would have converted to Christianity. That perspective of blaming ourselves if someone is not Orthodox and not them put things in an entirely new and humbling light!

Waldemar
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Post by Waldemar »

THE CHURCH VISIBLE, or upon earth, lives in complete communion and unity with the whole body of the Church, of which Christ is the Head. She has abiding within her Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit in all their living fullness, but not in the fullness of their manifestation, for she acts and knows not fully, but only so far as it pleases God.

Inasmuch as the earthly and visible Church is not the fullness and completeness of the whole Church which the Lord has appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation, she acts and knows only within her own limits; and (according to the words of Paul the Apostle, to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 5. 12) does not judge the rest of mankind, and only looks upon those as excluded, that is to say, not belonging to her, who exclude themselves. The rest of mankind, whether alien from the Church, or united to her by ties which God has not willed to reveal to her, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The Church on earth judges for herself only, according to the grace of the Spirit, and the freedom granted her through Christ, inviting also the rest of mankind to the unity and adoption of God in Christ; but upon those who do not hear her appeal she pronounces no sentence, knowing the command of her Saviour and Head, "not to judge another man's servant" (Rom. 14. 4).

From:

The Church is One
by Alexei Khomiakov, 1804--1860

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets ... _one_e.htm

Justin Kissel

Post by Justin Kissel »

Well... that's a can of worms :) How do you define "Christian"? A follower of Christ? But what if they misunderstand Christ and hold to a christological error? The early Church seemed to think that Who Christ (and God) were was of the most central importance. Yet, many millions of Christians unwittingly fall into ancient heresies (e.g., every time someone militantly says "Mary is not the Mother of God, she is the mother of Jesus" they are falling into the Nestorian heresy). So where and how do we draw a line?

I liked OOD's response. I'm not mature enough to know much about my own salvation, let alone whether my Protestant friend is being saved. I can repeat what the Church says about those outside the Church, but do I have the right to make personal judgements? As a layman I'm not called to judge, I'm just called to believe and pass on what the Church teaches. I do call Protestants, Catholics, etc. Christians. I also take heed when saints call them otherwise--as St. Justin Popovich not a few times called them "pseudo-Christians" and other such terms. But I'm not a saint, so I just call them Christian. :)

Waldemar
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Post by Waldemar »

"I honestly believe it iz better tew know nothing than tew know what ain't so."

  • Josh Billings ( aka Henry Wheeler Shaw, Abraham Lincoln's favorite humorist)
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CGW
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Post by CGW »

Justin Kissel wrote:

Well... that's a can of worms :) How do you define "Christian"?

Ummmm, look it up in the dictionary?

Elijah
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Post by Elijah »

Ummmm, look it up in the dictionary?

That's the first thing I thought of doing when I saw this topic. :)

Anyway..by definition alone a Christian is (according to www.dictionary.com ) "Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus."

In light of that my answer would be that by definition they are Christians. I think that is the whole reason why we call ourselves Orthodox (true/right-believing) Christians. :wink:

Justin Kissel

Post by Justin Kissel »

CGW,

Um, can you think of anything more substantial and orthodox than telling me to go to a secular source to find out what a Christian is? :)

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