Christian In Name Only
A Christian in Name Only[1] (abbreviated XINO), also called a cultural Christian,[2] nominal Christian,[3] or more often, a liberal Christian, is someone who professes to be a Christian in public but has a considerable lack of knowledge about the basic tenets of one's professed faith.
This includes ignorance of the contents of the Bible in general and may specifically include not being able to name the Four Gospels, the Ten Commandments, or even the fact that Jesus Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount. They may hold beliefs contrary to the teachings of Jesus, including considering abortion, special rights for homosexuals, social justice, gun control, and cohabitation between unmarried people to be morally acceptable.[1] They also might believe in other ways to attain salvation rather than accepting Jesus as one's Lord and Savior or otherwise dismiss core Christian doctrines regarding salvation. They may themselves live according to lifestyle choices condemned by Scripture or hold up others who do so as good Christian role models. When challenged on their views with quotations from Scripture, Christians in name only, if they believe in God at all, often respond with unsupported assertions as to what God really wants. Christians in name only, especially those motivated by liberal politics, have proved to be such an embarrassment that committed Christians are now seeking new terminology to distinguish themselves from Christians in name only.
Christians in name only and liberal politics
Christians in name only are common in liberal politics. Sometimes, they may attempt to justify their liberal political views through loose paraphrases of the Bible and leaps of logic (e.g., going from the Christian communities described in Acts to a call for a welfare state). They may at other times abandon any pretense that the Bible has anything to do with their views and identify as "Christian" solely for advancement in liberal political circles or for identification with a side in the Culture War.
Opposition to the term
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:21-26 NASB
This can be taken to mean that there is no such thing as a deal breaker. If you are a Paulian Christian and accept the book of Romans as canonical then the one true standard for receiving eternal salvation can be viewed as solely the result of the personal relationship with Jesus, something that cannot be measured from the outside by other people. The counterargument is that Christ said that we will know every tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:15-20,[4] Luke 6:43-45[5]) and that only those who do the will of the Father in Heaven will be saved (Matthew 7:21-23).
List of XINOs
- Any practitioner of liberal Christianity.
- Ben Affleck - liberal actor.
- Alec Baldwin - liberal actor who also supports animal rights and environmentalism.
- George W. Bush - One claimed that there are multiple ways to Heaven, not just through Christ; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; blundered in the Iraq War.
- Anders Breivik - Mass murderer of seventy-seven victims in Norway.
- The Roman Catholic Church.
- Jimmy Carter - 39th President of the United States. A Democrat who used his support from southern evangelicas to defeat Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. In debate, Ford even claimed that he was unfamiliar with the term "born-again" Christian. Carter left the Southern Baptist Convention to join the liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
- Any practitioner of Christian Identity.
- Bill Clinton - 42nd President. A Democrat, he sang in the Immanuel Southern Baptist Church choir in Little Rock, when seeking the governorship there. Was seen on television by many Arkansas residents. Falsely claimed that his former pastor W. O. Vaught did not consider oral sex to be sinful.
- Hillary Clinton - A corrupt liberal. Took a lesson in voodoo for her honeymoon in 1975. Involved in the occult. At the October 20, 2016, Al Smith dinner in New York City, Clinton stated that salvation (justification) is by faith and good works, which contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible on salvation and undermines her claim of being a real Christian at that time.[6][7]
- Matt Damon - liberal actor and friend of Ben Affleck.
- David Duke - former Louisiana state representative who claimed to be a traditional Christian in his losing bid for governor in 1991.
- John Edwards - former senator from North Carolina, who cancelled out most of the votes of his conservative colleague Jesse Helms. Democratic vice-presidential choice in 2004.
- Emilio Estevez - liberal actor, brother of Charlie Sheen, and son of Martin Sheen.
- John Wayne Gacy - serial killer and child molester who was also a liberal.
- Al Gore - 45th Vice President of the United States and member of the Democratic Party[8]
- Billy Graham - Although millions of people experienced salvation through the Graham Crusades, the evangelist uttered many statements that deny key Christian doctrines, such as faith in Christ alone for salvation. Active in the ecumenical movement, he treated Roman Catholics and Jews as spiritual equals and entrusted them with new believers). He has made numerous unbiblical, watered-down statements such as supporting abortion in the case of rape. He was a 33° Mason, which "take[s] sworn oaths to a pagan demonic god."[9] His son, Franklin Graham, head of the charity Samaritan's Purse, is considered more conservative in matters of theology and political issues than was his father. Franklin Graham in 2018 released a new book, Through My Father's Eyes, based on how his father's teachings impacted him.
- Ted Haggard - disgraced former pastor of New Life Church.
- Adolf Hitler - leader of Nazi Germany. Responsible for the extermination of over 6,000,000 Jews.[10] In reality, Hitler was a Darwinian secularist who believed in adult fairy tale of evolution,[11] hated and despised Christianity,[12][13] and attempted to warp Christianity into a XINO organization that adhered to Nazi beliefs.[14]
- Jesse Jackson - media-seeking civil rights activist who claimed to have held the dying Martin Luther King, Jr., at the assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968 and a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination; also involved in adultery.
- Jehovah's Witnesses.
- Jim Jones - cult leader from California
- Helen Keller[15]
- John Kerry - Democratic senator from Massachusetts and former presidential candidate.
- Joseph Kony
- The Ku Klux Klan
- Eddie Long.
- Timothy McVeigh - perpetrator of the Oklahoma City Bombing.
- Michael Moore - anti-capitalist liberal film maker.
- Mormons
- Barack Obama - 44th President of the United States and member of the Democratic Party [16]
- Albert Odulele
- Joel Osteen - runs a large "New Age" church in Houston, Texas; seems more concerned about making people feel good about their own state of sins, instead of accurately teaching the Word of God. This is called "the prosperity gospel."
- Nancy Pelosi - Democratic House Minority Leader from the San Francisco area; liberal Roman Catholic originally from Baltimore, Maryland.
- Sean Penn - liberal actor who portrayed on film the homosexual figure Harvey Milk.
- Fred Phelps - Cult leader[17]
- Harry Reid - former Democratic Senate Majority Leader from Nevada, who claims he is personally opposed to abortion but would not interfere with a woman seeking the procedure.
- Ben Roethlisberger - controversial NFL quarterback for Pittsburgh Steelers who committed assault.
- Much of the British Royal Family, who have endorsed homosexual "marriage" and have let the Anglican Church spiritually decline under their watch. Conversely, Queen Victoria was a dedicated Christian.
- Jerry Sandusky - retired head coach from Pennsylvania State University who was a convicted child molester and rapist.
- Susan Sarandon - liberal actress.
- Al Sharpton - hosts a show on MSNBC. Stirs up racial animosity throughout the nation; defended the lying Tawana Brawley.
- Martin Sheen - liberal actor.
- Charlie Sheen - liberal actor, conspiracy theorist, and son of Martin Sheen.
- Rick Warren - Operates a "New Age" style church in California. Gave the inaugural prayer at Obama's swearing-in as President. CFR member. Runs his church to gain members, not to preach the gospel.
- The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
- Oprah Winfrey - Talk show host, media mogul, and occasional host on 60 Minutes. Endorsed Obama in 2008 and 2012.[18]
- Jeremiah Wright - Obama's pastor and preacher of Black Liberation Theology.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Christians in Name Only?
- ↑ Are you a Cultural Christian? from the Christian Research Institute
- ↑ The Nominal Christian
- ↑ Matthew ch. 7, Conservative Bible
- ↑ Luke ch. 6, Conservative Bible
- ↑ Gutierrez-Cachila, Suzette (October 27, 2016). Hillary Clinton: Both Faith and Good Works Needed for Salvation. The Gospel Herald Society. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ↑ West, Marsha (October 21, 2016). Clinton at Al Smith Dinner: “In Order to Achieve Salvation, We Need Both Faith and Good Works”. Christian Research Network. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
- ↑ To be precise, he's the head of the Church of Global Warming, that insists that man-made global warming is real, and you must give tithes to it.
- ↑ Johnson, Christopher J. E. (July 17, 2013). Wolves in Costume: Billy Graham. creationliberty.com. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ Despite being raised Roman Catholic and claiming that Jesus was his inspiration, Hitler was only using Christianity to gain favor with the German people. His true beliefs were based off of his social darwinistic views.
- ↑ Hitler and Evolution. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ John Baskette, Was Hitler a Christian?. Answers in Action. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ Bergman, Jerry, Dr. (November 1, 1999). Darwinism and the Nazi Race Holocaust. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ Hodge, Bodie (July 13, 2009). The Results of Evolution. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ↑ A rather radical Socialist from northern Alabama, founding member of the anti-Christian American Civil Liberties Union, and personal friend of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. Most people know her, however, only from the film, The Miracle Worker, with Patty Duke.
- ↑ Barack Obama may be a special case. There is much evidence that he may be a Muslim who is practicing taqiyya, an Islamic custom which allows a Muslim to conceal his true religion if the adherent feels it would be beneficial to do so.
- ↑ The leader of radical hyper-Calvinist church that protests the funerals of soldiers killed on duty. Because of his indecent and Un-American, and utterly un-Christian nature of this activity, he would appear to be Christian in name only. He was once aligned with Al Gore politically.
- ↑ a liberal "Christian" and a New-Age-style occultist.