Religious Definition

[MikeW]

I probably know better than this, but i need answers.

And PLEASE, im looking for DEFINITION ONLY, ***NOT OPINION**

but...

Is the Christian religion considered "Non-denominational"..?

A friend of mine says Christian and Non-denominational are the same thing, i say otherwise. Who's correct?

[TheFirstNutZo]

I probably know better than this, but i need answers.

And PLEASE, im looking for DEFINITION ONLY, ***NOT OPINION**

but...

Is the Christian religion considered "Non-denominational"..?

A friend of mine says Christian and Non-denominational are the same thing, i say otherwise. Who's correct?

Christianity is a religion. Denomination (Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, etc.) is a subset of a religion.

A church that calls itself non-denominational is stating that it adheres to Christianity, but not any specific denomination within Christianity. My personal experience has been that "Non-denominational" churches are really their own denomination.

[deevergote]

Precisely. If you're "non-denominational", you are not considering yourself a part of any particular Christian denomination. All Christianity is based on the same overall belief... that Jesus Christ was/is the son of God, that he died for our sins, etc... but certain denominations believe different things. Some put more focus on the saints, some believe that Mary played a greater role as a religious figure (while others simply consider her to be Christ's wrapper...), some believe that the bread and wine symbolize the body and blood of Christ, others believe that they ARE the body and blood of Christ... and some don't even accept either concept. Some display the crucifix, others just a cross, and others still don't treat the death of Christ as the focus of the religion.


Non-Denominational just focuses on the core of the religion. The things that all the denominations share, and an acceptance of their differences. It's a creation of the PC age!



I was raised Catholic... which puts me in an odd place in this sort of situation. Catholics are generally regarded as backwards by most Protestants... I met a guy in high school that was very religious. He asked me what religion I was, and I said Catholic. His response was "oh, I see. I'm Christian"... It confused the hell out of me. I suppose "Non-Denominational" is focused more on the Protestant concepts of Christianity, rather than the Catholic approach. There really is only ONE form of Catholicism (though the interpretations are endless...)

[MikeW]

So, essentially, Christianity IS Non-demoninational..?

[deevergote]

So, essentially, Christianity IS Non-demoninational..?

Yes... if you caught Jon's reply before he deleted it, that's exactly what he said.

Christianity is non-denominational... and then there are subsets that people generally adhere to. It's like being from the USA, and also being from whatever state you live in. I live in NJ, and I'm also an American. I follow the laws that govern the entire country, and I also abide by the laws that govern this state (plus my county, town, etc... but those things don't work well to illustrate my point... )

If you want to adhere to the overall teachings of Christianity, but you don't want to follow the rules of just one denomination, you can choose to be non-denominational (which, I would assume, can be looked down upon by devout followers of any particular denomination...)

[19dabeast85]

As a Christian myself (most closely aligned with the PCA church but not completely) I find it frustrating that so many people, MOSTLY Christians themselves get way too caught up in denominational-ism, thinking and believing that members of their own denomination is RIGHT and everyone else is WRONG.

The correct definition of Christianity (in my humble opinion) is just plain and simply "having a personal RELATIONSHIP with Christ". Christianity is about a relationship with Christ, not rules, not denominations, not anything else, just Christ.

That being said, there must be some kind of structure to the Christian beliefs and practices of a group of people to retain some kind of order and this is where you get different groups breaking off establishing their own denomination which is just a set of beliefs based on the imperfect interpretations of the denomination's founders. Any group of Christians who set themselves apart from the rest with a slightly different interpretation of the Bible IS a denomination and this is why I view even non-denomination churches as being a denomination in and of themselves. They have a set of core values and beliefs they adhere to, thus they are a denomination.

So to answer your original question: If a non-denomination church member has a personal relationship with Christ than yes, that person IS a Christian. Unfortunately there are many people who get involved in various churches without having this relationship and end up causing some sort of scandal that gives Christianity in general a bad name.

[MikeW]

Thats what i was thinking. You can have the subsets, etc but once you start getting down to a personal level, the lines start to blur.

Deev, i missed Jon's post. But, this pretty much answers my question. Looks like i lost, lol.

[quickangel93]

Christianity is Denomination, because u could go to a catholic and he will tell you hes christian or you could go to a baptist and he will say hes christian. there just different forums of it.

i belong to the Pentecostal group, basically, we believe the the bible is right and is the way. and that the wine and bread is christs body and blood. and we live our lives under rules which we're written in the old testament, the ten commandments.

[deevergote]

Christianity is Denomination, because u could go to a catholic and he will tell you hes christian or you could go to a baptist and he will say hes christian. there just different forums of it.

i belong to the Pentecostal group, basically, we believe the the bible is right and is the way. and that the wine and bread is christs body and blood. and we live our lives under rules which we're written in the old testament, the ten commandments.

That's exactly the point. Christianity itself is non-denominational. It HAS denominations, but it's not a denomination itself. You can't say "I'm Christian, so I'm different than that Baptist over there". The term "Christianity" covers all Christian denominations.

[visualpoet]

I admit, I had posted that Christianity in and of itself is non-denominational, it simply covers all persons trying to emulate Christ. You can't say that Christianity is a denomination any more than you can call Judaism a denomination. Then I decided I didn't want to be a part of a holy war on here.

I have to say that I don't consider Christianity "a" religion. Religion covers a belief in a supreme power. All belief systems, no matter which, are religion, not "a" religion, if that makes sense.

[TheFirstNutZo]

So, essentially, Christianity IS Non-demoninational..?

No. Christianity is a religion. Denominations are perspectives on that religion. "Non-denominational" churches are a perspective on a religion that does not fit within OTHER perspectives, and incorporates parts of many different denominations. That does not make it the same thing as the religion itself. In all reality, "non-denominational" churches ARE their own denomination.

"Non-denominational" churches tend to resemble Pentecostal churches (at least in my area), but they do not directly align (there are differences). Around here, there aren't really Pentecostal churches, so the people who speak in tongues and get drunk in the Spirit are primarily in non-denominational churches.

Here's a car example:

Religion = Make
Denomination = Model

There's the Honda Accord, and there's also a Honda Civic. Then there's another car that has aspects of both the Accord and the Civic that doesn't have a name. It is a vehicle made by Honda, but that does not make the model "Honda". It is the Honda car with no name that has parts from all Honda cars.