What beliefs are fundamental? I wrote a long post a couple of weeks ago about how knowledge and theology don't get us into heaven, but if Christ is the only way to get there, how is "Jesus Christ" defined? Obviously, just believing that some jewish dude was killed by Romans doesn't count, but what is essential? To have faith in Christ, or anything else, you must know/believe something about Him. Do you have to believe that He was the son of God? Do you have to believe in the virgin birth?

Alright. Take some time and figure out for yourself exactly what doctrines and theologies are entirely fundamental, non-negotiable, and/or essential to be "saved" or to be a true follower of Christ.

For instance, is someone a Christian if they believe that it's alright for women to be pastors? What about if they accept homosexuality? What about baptism; what role does it play? Where is the line between "bad theology" and non-christian-ness [I can't find the right word there]? What about your view on inerrancy of the Bible? At what point do you break fellowship with another "believer" over these things?

I am an INFP, much like the woman who wrote in. I can relate to being "wired" differently than the other Christians around me. Shoot, I think that I'm wired different than most people. I'm not sure if it's a personality thing or if it is something more "spiritual," but I really find satasfaction in knowing God on a personal level, which I think is what mysticism really is.

Actually, I'm talking about Christian Mysticism. To quote Doug, "Christian mysticism sounds more exoctic than it actually is. In day-to-day terms, it is seeing and responding to Christ's living presence in us; which simply means living in God's ever-present presence via prayer, scripture, and the indwqelling of the Holy Spirit." It's not a bunch of mumbo-jumbo about puttin on Enya, lighting some candles and doing yoga over a Bible. It's about literally knowing God as an individual (while maintaining the Creator-Creation relationship, of course).

Christian mysticism is not as freaky as it sounds. C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer are both very respected Christian teachers, but both were mystics (not counting hundreds of "Saints," like Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux). Actually, mysticism (although the word has a bad connotation), is one of the most foundational Biblical teachings. As Southern Baptists we say that salvation comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (although, in practice, it comes from some lame prayer--but that's another issue), but we never practice that relationship any more than reading a few Bible verses in the morining and praying for my friend's cousin who is in the hospital, then calling it a "quiet time." There you have it--you have your relationship with God for the day in a small, manageable package.

That's not what the Bible teaches. Look at David and what he wrote in Psalm 27:4: "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." Paul wanted to "...know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..." (Phil. 3:10)

Most Christians practice a simple form of mysticism. Have you ever asked God, "What should I do?," or "Lead me today," or something to that effect? Listening for an answer is seeking truth from God from "within yourself," as Hoy would put it.

The Bible is the only source of objective truth we have in phsyical form. Everything that I "feel" God has said to me has to be put up against scripture. I agree with Hoy 100% on this point, but I think that it is impossible to know God (or Jesus) from just reading a book, even if it is God's book. They are just words on a page until God quickens them to life within your heart. That is a personal experience of God--that's what Hoy calls "mysticism".

Christian mysticism is different from dictionary mysticism. It isn't seeking truth from whatever I feel, it's seeking truth from who I feel.