From: ptfarre@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Peter Farrell)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: What is essential ?
Date: 18 Aug 92 06:23:50 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond

In article <Aug.14.05.09.29.1992.205@athos.rutgers.edu> rp@sequent.com (Roger Perrin) writes:
>I'm a long time convert to the LDS faith with a previous background
>of nearly zero formal religious affiliation ... So, what *is* essential
>Christian belief about God and salvation ?
>I think the challenge given to me comes down to this question of
>what is "essential".  ... I'd like to read posts or email from
>anyone who can take the time to respond. 

Roger,
You mean it has been since Saturday and nobody responded over the weekend??
Yipes. That is such a marvelous question!

The first and foremost "essential belief" that is Christian is actually
quite a few layers deep, after the essential beliefs with which Christians
find themselves in agreement with a host of other faiths: ie, that there is
a God, there is only one God, that God is the rightful Lord of this planet,
that He created all matter, time, space and so on. With these ideas,
Christianity finds itself in the large and comfortable majority of what
would have to be at least half of the world's population. 

But if you want your first truly Christian essential belief, which is the
first one that separates Christianity from, say, Judaism, or Islam (which
are both large and old faiths) it is that this Jesus of Nazareth was not
just another Jewish prophet, nor a good teacher, nor just a mere carpenter's
kid from Israel but someone who transcended humanity and was nothing less
than divinity in the flesh. If you don't accept that, you just ain't a 
Christian, plain and simple.  You might agree with a lot of Christian
teachings about, say, the family, or honesty, or chastity, but if you 
choke on this one you're still on the other side. After all, the
very term has "Christ" as the main part.

Another very essential belief that goes with this first one would be the
idea that this Jesus who was God incarnate was the only one of His kind;
there were/are no others to match this person. We Christians keep saying
this same old thing, you notice, in lots of different churches that don't
agree on a whole lot of lesser things: He is Lord.  Jesus is quoted as
saying also, "No one comes to the Father but by me" and "He who has seen
me has seen the Father also".

The other things with which Christianity has been identified (such as
a particular denominational trait or organization or social stance) are
peripherals. There's no point in considering those till we get past the
first things.

When I became a believer, the first thing that happened was I realized
that the God of the Bible had really made contact with me.  The second
thing I realized very quickly (within a day or two) was that Jesus was
God become human flesh.  His statement in Luke shook me to my roots
as soon as I understood its significance:

	"Before Abraham was, I am."

I cannot think of a more essential belief (though perhaps there are others
which follow upon it in very short order) than that one. I trust most of the
other believers in this Jesus Christ fellow would agree. (Right, folks?)

ps: Not that I want to get into a whole, long thread on the LDS church,
but two questions just keep ringing to me: 1) How'd you become one of them,
2) Why is it you are wondering about this, do you think?


					Hope This is Good Enough
							Pete