May I Have a Word? Christian
Jeffrey Weiss, in The Dallas Morning News Religion blog, is wearing his wordsmith hat when he wonders if the dissident Fort Worth Episcopalians who left the church in a dispute over gay priests are still properly called Anglicans? Jeffrey Weiss says no, that the term Anglican is reserved for those who follow certain rules and standards and are approved by the Anglican Communication led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
So far, so good, but then Weiss uses an jarring analogy to make his point. He says, "As the word [Christian] is understood by everyone else, I suggest that Mormons are not Christian."
Whoa. I'm one of "everyone else" and I consider Christian to simply mean "follower of Jesus," and not necessarily a member of any specific organization, or any organization at all, for that matter. By that non-theological definition, Mormons are most definitely Christian.
"Christian" is a descriptive, generic term, not a prescriptive, trademarked brand name. There is no organization that sets universal standards for who can and cannot claim to be Christian, unlike the Anglican Communion or Roman Catholicism.
Now, Mormons might believe a few eyebrow-raising claims about Jesus that other Christians are skeptical about, but Jesus is the same fellow in both cases. Evangelical Christians hold a few eyebrow-raising beliefs themselves. As do Catholics. As do... If Mormons claim to be Christians, I see no reason for Jeffrey Weiss to excommunicate them.
2 comments:
I often run into people, usually young people, who think Catholics aren't Christians either. Weird.
There you go. I'm learning that if you want to be understood, then the word 'Christian' is probably one you should avoid. Everyone has a different understanding of the word.
I'm less familiar with other religions, but maybe 'Muslim' has the same problems, what with Sunni and Shi'a and Sufism and Ahmadiyya. I suspect they don't all recognize each other as Muslims, either.
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