Important characteristics of Christianity

[OnceConvinced]

if you probed deeper you'd find out that the differences are not that great when it comes to the important characteristics of Christianity. For instance, the overwhelming majority of Christian denominations believe in the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the nature of God, the authority of Scripture, they share the same Bible canon, etc. Dividing over what day to worship, as Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished for has little impact on understanding the core messages of Christianity.

Which important characteristics/core messages do the majority of Christians agree upon?

Which are crucial when it comes to determining whether someone is a true Christian and saved?

Are these things listed by OpenYourEyes crucial for salvation?

Belief in:
- the divinity of Christ
- the resurrection

Do the majority of Christians agree on...
- the nature of god?
- the authority of scripture?
- which versions of the bible to use?

[Checkpoint]

if you probed deeper you'd find out that the differences are not that great when it comes to the important characteristics of Christianity. For instance, the overwhelming majority of Christian denominations believe in the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the nature of God, the authority of Scripture, they share the same Bible canon, etc. Dividing over what day to worship, as Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished for has little impact on understanding the core messages of Christianity.

Which important characteristics/core messages do the majority of Christians agree upon?

Which are crucial when it comes to determining whether someone is a true Christian and saved?

Are these things listed by OpenYourEyes crucial for salvation?

Belief in:
- the divinity of Christ
- the resurrection

Do the majority of Christians agree on...
- the nature of god?
- the authority of scripture?
- which versions of the bible to use?

I would say that belief in the divinity of Christ is not crucial to salvation.

However, what is crucial is belief in him as Savior, and in his claims such as "I am the way" and other "I am" statements.

Yes, belief in the resurrection of Christ is crucial.

The majority of Christians do agree on the nature of God and the authority of scripture, but not on which translated- versions of the Bible to use.

[OnceConvinced]

The majority of Christians do agree on the nature of God and the authority of scripture,

Can you define the nature of God in a way that you think most other Christians would agree on?

When it comes to bible authority, what would you say most Christians would believe?:
A) It's God's infallible word
B) It's God inspired, but contains human errors
c) Other

[Checkpoint]

The majority of Christians do agree on the nature of God and the authority of scripture,

You asked:

Can you define the nature of God in a way that you think most other Christians would agree on?

Most Christians define God as a Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons who together are the one true God.

Your other question was:

When it comes to bible authority, what would you say most Christians would believe?:
A) It's God's infallible word
B) It's God inspired, but contains human errors
c) Other

Most Christians would either believe A) or B).

Generally, fundamentalists and evangelicals believe A) and main-liners believe B).

[Yahu]

- which versions of the bible to use?

There is NO dictation on what version of translation to use. Many use multiple translations so they can see how it might be translated differently. In those cases you have to go back to the original language and do some word studies.

Only JW have their own translation that I am aware of.

Most if not all translations are bias by the doctrines and contextual understanding of the translators. That is why using multiple translations is advisable.

[Yahu]

The majority of Christians do agree on the nature of God and the authority of scripture,

Can you define the nature of God in a way that you think most other Christians would agree on?

When it comes to bible authority, what would you say most Christians would believe?:
A) It's God's infallible word
B) It's God inspired, but contains human errors
c) Other

I would say the Original message was inspired by the Holy Spirit if the passage is prophetic. Then you have things like history or wisdom books that are advice.

Translations will always have human errors because the original language has a lot to do with understanding the context. There is broad variations in how the original Hebrew can be translated. It was not a very precise language which is why many word pictures are used and passages repeated in other words to clarify the meaning.

[Elijah John]

Things that all Christians, unitarian and trinitarian alike, agree on, or should be able to agree on:

-The importance and supremacy of the Bible as the main source of Spiritual inspiration, if not it's infallibility
-The Ten Commandments
- Jesus as the most important prophet at the very least, if not the 2nd person of the Trinity.
-The teachings of Jesus, especially the Golden Rule and the Lord's prayer.

That's about it, as far as I can tell.

[OpenYourEyes]

if you probed deeper you'd find out that the differences are not that great when it comes to the important characteristics of Christianity. For instance, the overwhelming majority of Christian denominations believe in the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the nature of God, the authority of Scripture, they share the same Bible canon, etc. Dividing over what day to worship, as Seventh-day Adventists are distinguished for has little impact on understanding the core messages of Christianity.

Just to elaborate on what was quoted about me. Christians don't believe that the God of the OT is a moral monster, they don't believe that Christian doctrine is sexist, they don't believe that the nature/attributes of God conflict with each other or with logic, etc, etc. These beliefs are common across all real Christian denominations and of course they're more than needed to retain a stable belief in Christendom.

[marco]

Which important characteristics/core messages do the majority of Christians agree upon?

They believe in the goodness of Christ and they accept his teachings. Unfortunately when he said: "Do this in commemoration of me," the RC Church takes this to mean that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the flesh and blood of Christ, which led to reports of cannibalism.

This miracle is of such astounding importance that it is hard to see that similarities are important when this difference so divides. And remember, Christianity is derived from the traditions of Roman Catholicism, reformed of course.

[OnceConvinced]

Your other question was:

When it comes to bible authority, what would you say most Christians would believe?:
A) It's God's infallible word
B) It's God inspired, but contains human errors
c) Other

Most Christians would either believe A) or B).

Generally, fundamentalists and evangelicals believe A) and main-liners believe B).

So would you agree there is definitely some major disagreement then on bible authority?