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Weren't Christians called Christians because the word means "Christ-like"? The tale that I heard was that the Romans saw Jesus's followers and noticed how much like Jesus they were. Therefore Christians were given that name by the Romans.

I don't know if it's true or not, but I do like the idea that to be a Christian, you must attempt to be "Christ-like". If you're running around stealing and saying you're a Christian, it doesn't work, because you aren't making an attempt to be "Christ-like". It isn't "I know Jesus loves me and that makes everything better". In fact: Jesus loving you really doesn't help you without the attempt on your part. It's completely different for everyone and everyone has different weaknesses, but as long as you're (honestly) trying to be the kind of person that Christ wants you to be, then you're a Christian.

That's my really bad attempt to try to explain it... >>

I am the one who said yes.
I sat down once a couple years
back and started reading it.
I spent all my free time reading
it until I finished... xD

You contradicted your poll.



This sentence doesn't really make sense. It's like two seperate ideas. Being told the Bible doesn't necessarily mean that you misinterpreted it, unless the person who told you it misinterpreted it, and that's still not you misinterpreting it but someone else. Some people who read the Bible for themselves can misunderstand it. The understanding or misunderstanding is often not in the reading of it, but just the judgement of the person themselves. (I'm not trying to grill you or attack you here, just saying the sentence is a little odd)

I have personally been going to church for most of my life and nobody just "told" me the Bible. They usually showed me the verses too. This is just me speaking on behalf of personal experiences, of course. I'm sure that there are people in the world who do not have access to Bibles and consequently that could give people room to twist what it says and misinform them.

AS for my view of what Christianity is, I feel it's quite simple. I agree with what Paul said in Romans 10:9 -

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Jesus also said:
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven" Matthew 10:32

To me, Paul is saying that if we accept Christ as our Savior and believe that He has risen from the dead, we will be saved, and Jesus is saying there that if we stand by Him on Earth, He will stand by us before God's Judgment. Both direct to an acceptance of Jesus.

Jesus also says in John 5:24 - "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

Basically, I feel that if you accept Christ as your savior, and confess Him before men, you are a Christian.