It would be nice to post as a Christian, but I doubt that would be possible. Since you're the admin, I'll cut and paste this short article I wrote about the differences between Veridicans and classic Christians. Then perhaps you can decide where I fit, or if I do fit. I appreciate your time on this.
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Veridicans and Classic Christians: What’s the Difference?
Veridicans are Christians—sort of. That is, if the word “Christian” is taken to mean “followers of Christ,” then yes, we are Christians, but after that our path and the path of classic Christendom diverge. There are similarities between Veridicans and classic Christians, but there are also profound differences, and those differences are pretty big.
For instance, Veridicans and classic Christians both believe Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but Veridicans believe that to a much greater extreme. That is, we follow ONLY Jesus Christ. We don’t follow the Catholic Church, and we don’t follow the Apostles.
Case in point, classic Christians maintain that the entire Holy Bible is the Word of God. Veridicans don’t. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and for that reason, we canonize only the books that deal with His life and teachings: The New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the book of Revelation, but also the non-biblical Gospel of Thomas, and the Veridican Gospel of Jesus Christ. We consider the rest of the Bible to be good for historical context and wisdom, but nothing more than that. In Veridicanism, only the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are holy, so our canon is very much limited to that.
But the canon is only the first divergence; we also hold a different view of Christ and His relationship to mankind. Classic Christians believe they follow Christ and remain followers of Christ; Veridicans believe they follow Christ to BECOME Christ.
We believe that by participating in our Eucharist ritual we die to who we are and are transformed into what Christ is. We become one with Him. We are Him, and he is us. We believe this spiritual rebirth is the only reason God made human beings in the first place. We believe it is the ultimate purpose of all mankind.
Classic Christians, on the other hand, believe they remain who they are even after they are saved. They form a kind of partnership with Christ, yes; they make Christ their leader, yes, but they always retain who they are. They never give their soul to Christ the way Veridicans do.
Finally, there are differences in our spiritual practices: Classic Christians use water baptism and speak in tongues. Some even speak in tongues and then interpret those utterances as a kind of prophecy. Some believe that faith can be used to build wealth and prosperity in this world, and others use a priest to turn the Eucharist into the body and blood of Christ. We don’t do that.
On the other hand, we study Veridican astrology, dream interpretation, astral projection, prophecy, and miracle-working. Classic Christians often have a problem with that. But our spiritual practices come from our belief that we are spiritual descendants of the Magi who were astrologers and the first to find Christ born into the world, to hail Him as a king and to protect him from Herod.
We even adopt a star as our symbol rather than a cross because that star represents the Star of Bethlehem the Magi followed to find Christ, and it is our belief that finding Christ is more important than dwelling on his torture and death in this world.
So, ultimately, we are Christians if that means followers of Christ. In fact, the word “Veridican” means “one who follows that which is true,” and even classical Christians would agree that Jesus Christ is the Truth. But we are vastly different from the traditional Church in many respects. We practice our spirituality differently, and we will not follow anyone but Christ Himself.
All that notwithstanding, we like other Christians. We like to fellowship with them, but many times it’s not the same the other way around. Most Christians don’t like us. So, are we Christians? Sort of.