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Originally Posted by dellwear
Out of interest, how do you define a "non-believer"?? Is there a test? Do you have to walk over hot coals or something?
Surely there are varying degrees of belief, like Towny said earlier some people only believe parts of the bible, can they only become part time member/leaders??
This non-believer is very confused about it all  |
Christianity has been around for 2,000 years but no-one seriously challenged doctrines like the resurrection and virgin birth until the last 100 years or less.
Because such core beliefs are no longer taken for granted, many churches and other Christian organisations have taken to writing down what they believe and requiring everyone who actively participates in their activities to 'sign up' to them. Now, it may well be possible to be a 'true believer', yet for whatever reason have trouble accepting certain parts of the faith. Such people are excluded from leadership in these situations not because someone else wants to make a simplistic judgement about whether they are a believer or not, but because the church/organisaion/CU has made a decision that it holds to a certain set of beliefs, and that set of beliefs is to be maintained.
An 'Evangelical' Christian Union has to have some way of remaining evangelical despite the fact that, due to University courses only lasting 3 or 4 years, its membership in 2004 is almost entirely changed from what it was in 2000.