When is an atheist a Christian?

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JustLamb said:
I did post this in non-Catholic religions for a purpose.

Maybe I should have used a lower case ‘c’ for christian…

2 Cor 5 14
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
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I thought it was a lovely story. Thanks for it.

All have hope. There are no exceptions.
 
JustLamb said:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” You shall have no other gods before me.
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Atheists have no other gods before God, ergo they have maintained the first commandment.

Further, atheists don’t hate their parents or children by instruction yet Jesus commands that. Atheists keep the commandments. Jesus’ instruction does not meet with that commandment or his ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ law. Which do you follow?

Exodus 20 12
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Luke 14 26
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
 
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How about The Great Commandment?

Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Also, you’re missing the first part of the First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God”.

If you are to put no gods before God, then it stands to reason that you not put him after or even on equal footing with others. Atheists put God on equal footing with other gods by denying the existence of god(s). So no, Atheists do not also obey the First Commandment.
 
JustLamb said:
While most in this village would describe themselves as atheist they are, maybe, more Christian than most Christians.
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It would be more accurate to say that you know some atheists whose views align with that of the Christian faith. And seeing as a lot of those views are, and always have been, universal, it’s not surprising.
 
But if my village is representative of all villages then statistically these universal values are common place without the need for the Christian faith any longer as it has served its purpose?
 
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Baptism into the Catholic Church. An atheist who is drawn to such good will toward others is responding to an explicit desire to become Catholic. Jn 3,5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
 
StarMapp said:
Baptism into the Catholic Church. An atheist who is drawn to such good will toward others is responding to an explicit desire to become Catholic. Jn 3,5, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
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Is there any way to verify that? It just seems like you want your faith to take credit for the good works of those outside of it.

I could just as easily say that non-Hindus do good works in response to an explicit desire to become Hindu. Or I could go so far as to say that religious people do good works as part of an inborn desire to throw off the shackles of religion. Each of those is just as verifiable and falsifiable as what you stated.

No, the best answer is that good people will do good works. Some of those good people have religion as a foundation of why they do good, and some of them do not.
 
Well I think what he meant by universal is that some concepts are universal.
But the concept of God’s exsistence not everybody ascribes to for example.
That is why the Christian faith still has a good purpose
 
Could you evaluate on what that means exactly ?
I am not sure how its related to my post
 
The passage \I quoted says ‘If you do not hate then you can’t be a disciple’. You’re article says ‘If you are a disciple the cost will be hate’…

Hence if a then b is not equal to if be then a.
 
Is not secularism the grand child of Catholicism? In the same way a grandson follows the same values of his grandma does not contemporary secularism follow the same values of the Bible?

My grandmother lived and lost in WW2. I have never experienced war and have a smart phone. Would she be able to function now, were she alive? Would I be able to live if I had a time-machine and met her in the 40s?
 
I wouldn’t say so. Catholicism and secularism have a lot differanes, aspecially when it comes to the reality that affects us. So what I was trying to say is, yes Catholicism and secularism can both have the same values in certain aspects. But they are still different worldviews, each looking at reality from a different perspective. But truth is only in one form, You cant expect to live a secular life and Catholic/Christian life and expect the experience to be the same. Some things will,but there are huge differances . And we feel like that huge difference is important to a person, since it can mean the differance between heaven and hell
 
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I agree. I guess it comes down to ones own view of reality.

Christ’s message is a personal one.
 
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That is silly.

@PickyPicky

Oh, I was just quoting the Catechism

I know, but your conclusions (murder is worse than atheism, atheism is not a mortal sin, atheism is not a violation of the First Commandment) did not follow from what you quoted, so I’m wondering what other quotes you have that led you to these conclusions.
 
Nowhere have I said that atheism is not a mortal sin, nowhere have I said it is not a breach of the first commandment. As to my belief that murder is a heavier sin than a mere opinion could ever be, that seems to me self-evident. I do say that the Catechism holds atheism to be a sin against the virtue of religion (and does not say that it is in any especial sense a sin against God) and that its imputability depends on intent and circumstances (rather than is always of an especially and primarily serious nature). I take it you are OK with the Catechism on those points.
 
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Works are given recognition so long as the person contributes to God’s plan. In so doing he would always ensure he is properly disposed.

Matthew 6:1 sqq.; Mark 12:41 sqq.; 1 Corinthians 10:31

This short article in regards to Merit explains better than what I can do by cutting and pasting, but it would lend one better to have a quiet read of it in NewAdvent:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10202b.htm
 
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