"Bible Christians"

[sagehen]

>In an editorial in the Chicago Sun Times that appeared to on
>12/31/04, Andrew Greely wrote:
>
>"Patently I use the word "Christian" in an extended sense and not in
>the sense of the Bible Christians for whom most of the rest of us who
>follow Jesus of Nazareth are not really Christians, especially
>Catholics."
>
>I assume that Greely is using "Bible Christians" to mean
>Evangelicals, Pentacostals, Charismatics, and the like. Does this use
>of the term tend to be associated with Catholics nowadays, or is it
>more general? (I note that there was a 1988 book called "Catholicism
>and Fundamentalism - The Attack on 'Romanism' by 'Bible Christians,'"
>which put the phrase in quotes.) Is it related to the early use of
>the term for a Methodist denomination?
>
>Also -- I know this is harder to answer -- does anyone have a sense
>of how far back the modern, restricted sense of "Christian" that
>Greely is alluding to goes? I mean the sense that the word seems to
>have in  a phrase like "Christian singles," where the reference is
>presumably to those who have accepted Jesus Christ and been born
>again.
>
>Geoff Nunberg
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
Re: "Bible Christians:"
I have heard "belief in the inerrancy of the Bible" (edition not specified)
offered as a defining characteristic of Christians, by one who would
probably come under this rubric.
AM

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