What is the 'mark' of a True Christian

[Square]

Now I don’t intend this to be a ‘catholic’ debate but I would like to ask what the mark of a True Christian is.

Forgive me if this has been stated before (I admit that I did not read all 11 pages).

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In my view, if a person does not live the love, then the person is not Christian regardless of his/her other actions and/or beliefs. For Christianity, Christ's words come first; everyone else's words come last.

In my view, there were no Christians participating in the Crusades.

In my eyes, the mark of a true Christian is love of God and neighbor.

 

[Catholic Crusader]

Forgive me if this has been stated before (I admit that I did not read all 11 pages).

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In my view, if a person does not live the love, then the person is not Christian regardless of his/her other actions and/or beliefs. For Christianity, Christ's words come first; everyone else's words come last...
..In my eyes, the mark of a true Christian is love of God and neighbor.

In the abstract, I would agree. But there are two problems with that:
1) We all go through dry spells. There have been times when I have been angry and mad and not very loving, but I was still a Christian.
2) There are some very loving people: Hindus, Muslims, etc., but their love of God and neighbor does not make them Christian

In my view, there were no Christians participating in the Crusades.

Here I STRONGLY disagree. You do not know what was in those men's hearts. They lived in a different time with different ways of thinking. They thought they were fighting for God's glory. You cannot make that judgement. Only God knows their hearts.

Blanket statements condemning entire groups of people are very dangerous my friend

 

[Imagican]

While it may well be true that the politics involved with the Crusades WERE NOT a 'very Christian' mode of expression, can there be ANY doubt that those that were simply 'caught up' in these actions had LITTLE if ANY actual responsibility for the commands of their leaders?

We can compare it to the war in which is being waged in Iraq right this very minute. I am QUITE sure that there ARE American Christians stationed and fighting in Iraq. While the war itself may NOT have been declared from a Christian standpoint, that does NOT necesitate 'guilt' in the hearts of those that are simply following the LEADERS responsible for the war.

I must agree that such 'blanket statements', while they may SEEM at times, LOGICAL, are certainly not able to be made without undue judgement against those that may have had NO actual responsibility for the events which we choose to judge.

MEC

 

[Catholic Crusader]

That's twice I have agreed with you, all in one weekend. Is the end near? LOL :D