No, it isn't a straw man. It is exactly my point. Just where does a mortal being draw the line between what is a 'true' Christian and what isn't? Your definition keeps shifting on me. You said it was someone who fully followed Christ and his living prophets. Yet, King Benjamin told us that none of us are worthy servants in and of ourselves. Does it just mean being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost? or What? If one doesn't have to be perfectly following the prophets, then what determines that line you are trying to make?
Obviously, it is a line that we cannot set in stone, for it is different for each individual, given the amount of truth and light given to that person. It is on the same basis of evangelists trying to define LDS as not being Christians. They are wrong, not because we are different than they, but because it is not up to them to define what a Christian is. That is reserved to God. My definition of a 'true' Christian, is one who seeks his/her best to follow Christ and good works (including those who have not yet learned of Jesus or the fulness of the gospel). This is a person who listens to the Light of Christ (or Holy Ghost for members) and seeks to follow it. This is a person who repents when he/she realizes sin. We are told not to judge by Jesus. That doesn't mean we aren't to determine between right and wrong, but we aren't the ones to determine who will enter into heaven and who will not. That is God's job. That also tells me that it isn't up to me to decide what God accepts as a 'true Christian.' K'aya K'ama, Gerald/gary Smith gszion1 @juno.com http://www .geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html "No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe JWR: Here you are committing two errors in your logic. First, you are taking my position to an extreme that I never intended. Second, you are setting up a straw man in doing so by assuming something that I never said. I never said that a person had to follow the prophets perfectly to be a true Christian. When a person rejects the authorized messengers whom the Savior has sent, he is rejecting the Savior. It is the same. Who are these authorize messengers? I speak of our missionaries, prophets and apostles. John W. Redelfs ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
