Neither JWs nor Mormons deny Jesus being Christ.
It should be noted that Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves are antithetical to any reconciliation or inclusion with the rest of Christendom, which they regard as the whore of Babylon.
Tit for tat is not a good argument or reason.
If I dismissed every Christian who disagreed with me or rejected my views there would be very few left.
I think you will find that is Paul not Christ.
I very much doubt that God frowns every time a non Christian behaves in a Christian manner. And I am certain that people can do good without the aid of the Holy spirit.
Per haps Paul was exaggerating to make a point, or perhaps he actually believed it. Paul was not God on earth, he was human.
Oh dear, did I say something wrong.
Whether Jesus is Lord of creation or not does not affect whether a person behaves in an acceptable manner. This is not about Heaven, perfection or salvation, this is humanity that you ■■■■ to Hell.
“I’m alright Jack!”
Richard
Indeed there were heresies
Muslims could believe in a Christ Jesus as a prophet that will return to judge the Creation, it doesn’t make them Christian though. Only Christians affirm Jesus as Lord of all Creation.
The question to adress is ‘an edge case relative to what’? The early church wasn’t an edge case of apostolic teaching, it was its center grounded in scriptures, creeds and oral traditions. The denominations were edge cases relative to the churches they split from which carried the center with them, mind you. Your argument needs the center to exist continuously for two millennia in order to have something for every denomination to be an edge of.
The Baptists argued with the Anglicans, the Presbyterians with the Baptists, and the thing being argued about never changed names. It is God’s triune identity, Christ risen and Him Lord.
The first three centuries prove the same thing. Nobody invented the center at Nicaea instead, the bishops there argued from the scriptures the apostolic churches already read and already taught. A creed getting written down isn’t a new religion appearing, it’s a foundation marking its edges because some (heretics) had crossed them.
So I’d turn your “so what” back to you. The center held while empires came and went. Split after split, everyone knew which side of the line the other one stood on. You could call it divisive, the Scriptures already taught it is inevitable.
“for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. ”
1 Corinthians 11.v19
People can do good no doubt about it but what you talk about is secular humanism, not actual Christianity. Everyone can think ‘they’re good’ but that’s a misconception of what it truly means to be Christ-like. Everyone is a sinner in need of redemption, the basics of Christianity is to acknowledge our need of a savior. All our righteousness is as filthy rags.
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Christ means Messiah. Even the Muslims accept Jesus as the Messiah (they even affirm, as we do, that He is the one who will destroy the Dajjāl, namely the false Messiah, the Antichrist), so that would make Muslims Christians according to your logic. I think you can see how absurd it is.
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Ouch.
completely misrepresented.
** **In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. **18 **In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. **19 **No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. **20 **So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, **21 **for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. **22 **Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
Paul is criticising not complementing or suggesting that divisions are necessary.
Richard
The point isn’t that we need divisions, it is there will be division whether we want them or not because it’s human nature. The personal motives causing the division is exactly why not everyone who respect Jesus automatically becomes a Christian. Like, I can think of buddhism has an interesting philosophy and find some of its principles insightful, but that doesn’t make me a buddhist. We could agree that humanism somewhat reflects some of Christ teachings but it’s a leap to think humanistic behaviors make us Christ-like. One could adhere to a Christian philosophy without the theology that never says ‘be a Christian’ (whatever that means) but be born again. My comment only aimed to explain why JWs actually distance themselves from Christianity. I’d also like to double down on the idea that secular humanism isn’t akin to a pragmatic “diet Christianity” without the spiritual folklore.