Atheist Christians

[andrew1707]

A comment I read in a question from yesterday got me thinking. So, ABers, what are your thoughts on Atheist Christians.

Is it possible to believe in Christ the man and his teachings but not believe in the existence of a god.

A

[Canary42]

It's possible to believe anything.

But didn't Christ's teachings include God, so if you believe his teachings then you believe in God.

[andrew1707]

So is it all or nothing?

[ummmm]

Yes. You can believe that Jesus existed as a person but not believe he was the son of God.

[-Talbot-]

Easy to believe Jesus existed...just as easy to believe he was a bit mad and made up 'stuff'

[Peter Pedant]

Being a christian involves belief that He is the SOn of God

if you just think he is a good fella - you can be muslim ( they think he is a prophet ) and go out and kill people !

Believe in comes from the NT Gk ( oo er I can see Wetuste looooooming) pisteuo eis - and involves more than just believe

[ you can believe Unison or TonyBlair but you may not believe IN them )

[Old_Geezer]

What does it mean to believe in Christ the man ? That a person called Jesus existed and was a teacher of morality ? In which case yes that is possible. Or to believe he was "the Christ" somehow connected to a God that the rest of us aren't ? No that would be a contradiction in terms.

[Peter Pedant]

Old Geezer - it is called the Christian Religion

here the question could be - can you be a christian without believing in the divinity of christ ( no but see the articles on the Unitarians and the answer may be yes )

or can we believe that Jesus bar Joseph was a preacher in o AD 30 AD ?

two questions and the two asnwers may be different

[Old_Geezer]

It is apparently called the Atheist Christian religion having read the OP.

[wolf63]

Andrew

Normally I would attempt to answer your question. But it's too early and I am too tired. I need sleepys.

[ludwig]

It's possible but it'd be a bit strange, because you'd essentially be saying 'I believe in the teachings of someone that I also believe was either deluded, or a liar'.

[sandyRoe]

Whether someone believed in Jesus or not his message could serve as a good guide to living.

[andrew1707]

@Ludwig. You mustn't forget that Jesus had no say in what was written about him in the NT. There may have been liars or delusional people involved in the writing of the books in the bible (and those books that didn't make the "cut") but I think it unfair to blame this on Jesus.

Perhaps Jesus was a liar and delusional... but we have no historical evidence for or against this.

[wolf63]

Are these Atheist Christians like Catholic Jews or Protestant Muslims and all other combinations that live in our complex world?

[wildwood]

Of course not. As a Christian is a person who follows Christianity, and an Atheist is one who does not believe in the biblical teachings, an Atheist Christian is a contradiction in itself.

[ludwig]

// Perhaps Jesus was a liar and delusional... but we have no historical evidence for or against this. //

If he claimed he was the son of god, and you don't believe in god, then you must believe he was either a liar or delusional, albeit with some good things to say about people being nice to each other.

If there's no historical evidence he claimed he was the son of god, then there's effectively no evidence he said any of the things he said.

Any way you cut it, it doesn't make alot of sense.

[RATTER15]

People can believe whatever they like, personally I believe if Jesus ever existed he was just a hippy of the time and not much more.

[naomi24]

People can agree with much of what Jesus is alleged to have said, but to consider themselves ‘Christian’ requires belief in God. I agree with some of what he said, but he doesn’t appear to have been as nice as he’s cracked up to be. He was a bit of a racist and he was quite unkind to his mum, so he wasn’t the perfect role model.

[sandyRoe]

"...unkind to his mum..." Oh, I don't know. He looked after her for 30 years and only left when he was called to his ministry.

[naomi24]

Did he? How do you know?

[sandyRoe]

I have something much better that 'knowing'. I believe.