Monday, June 05, 2006

Classifying one's faith

On my MySpace profile, I have listed:
Religion: Protestant
I use this term because I agree the most with the beliefs of the Protestant Reformation (Luther, Calvin, et al.). I did not choose "Christian - other" because "Christian" these days includes a broad range of beliefs (and non-beliefs) that I would consider heretical. I'll venture to say that I consider most Christians that I know "protestant," whether they be Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, or non-denominational. I prefer the term because of all its wonderful connotations: the Solas, the inerrancy and absolute authority of Scripture, "protesting" against the Catholic system, and the traditions of St. Augustine and Martin Luther, to name a few.

What religion do you list on your profile, and why?

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I chose "Protestant" as well because "Christian" has become a general term.
(Which is why 'other' is listed with 'Christian.')
People have begun to classify themselves as "Christian" whether they have faith in God or not. As for why the term "Christian" is being used so flippantly, that's a completely different discussion that maybe I'll cover later.

We do have to remember that "Protestant" is a bit of a subjective term as well. Both "Protestant" and "Christian" have been used to describe anything from Baptists to Catholics to even Agnosticism. But, I find it to be a bit more specific than simply listing, "Christian-other."

That's pretty much my thoughts on that...but I will say one more thing. True Christianity is not a label. It is not a religion. It is a relationship. And a relationship with God speaks far louder than any religion we can identify ourselves with.

11:46 PM, June 05, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I chose Protestant because "Christ follower" was not an option.

9:37 AM, June 06, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You've made a good point Jeffrey. Because I am a follower of only Christ, I changed myspace to Protestant. ;-)

9:47 AM, June 06, 2006  
Blogger Jeffrey J. Stables said...

Good point, Amy: there's no way that a label can properly classify one's faith—hence the oxymoronic nature of the very title of my post. That's also why I try my best to say that I "agree most with" the Protestant doctrines, not that I "believe in" them. But sola scriptura, sola Christe, sola fide so far transcend even the creed itself, that I think it deserves wholehearted support.

O ElderLee, if only True ads had anything true in them about life and love and girls. But, then it wouldn't be all about sex—and then it wouldn't sell.

1:12 PM, June 06, 2006  
Blogger Seth Ward said...

So what about Luther and Augustine are you protesting?

5:47 PM, June 15, 2006  
Blogger Jeffrey J. Stables said...

I'm sorry, Seth, if I was unclear when I gave my list of "wonderful connotations"--the "traditions of St. Augustine and Martin Luther" are one item in that list. I was speaking of "'protesting' against the Catholic system."

10:59 AM, June 19, 2006  
Blogger Seth Ward said...

gotcha.

You should post more often.

5:30 PM, June 21, 2006  

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