From Eliyahu
Consider this:
Sometimes people ask me
if I am a "Christian." My response to that must be; "what is your definition
of a Christian?" This question must be asked because, even among those who
readily identify as being "Christian" there is wide disagreement about the
definition of the word. The book, Religion in America: A Very Short
Introduction observes this fact about Christians:
Although all of them have their historical roots in Christian theology
and tradition, and although most would identify themselves as Christian,
many would not identify others within the larger category as Christian. Most
Baptists and fundamentalists, for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism
or Christian Science as Christian. In fact, the nearly 77 percent of
Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of
Christianities that are far from any collective unity. [Beal, Timothy
(2008). Religion in America: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. p. 35.]
"A diverse pluribus of
Christianities" that is "far from any collective unity" is not something
that I can identify with, on Scriptural grounds. Paul the apostle wrote
this:
There is one
Body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of
your calling; one Lord, one faith, one immersion, one Elohim and Father of
all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. Ephesians 4:4-6
Paul, who wrote these
words in the 1st century, knew of only one body of disciples - not a
diverse pluribus of Christianities. Clearly, he viewed that one body as
the authentic assembly of disciples. All other divergent groups must
therefore derive from a schism away from that authentic group. Indeed, what
we call the "Christian Church" today is in fact a schism away from the
authentic body instituted by Messiah, built up by Messiah's family and His
apostles, including the apostle, Paul. In fact, that Gentile schism took
place in the second century, so that what we call the "Christian Church" did
not even exist as a movement until then. Paul, was a believing Jew, not one
of the heretics involved in that Gentile heresy, even though the Church
often claims him as one of their own.
Invite
your Christian friends to see this with you - tonight at our Tsiyon Meeting!
