Other Abrahamic Religions?

Wouldn't an "Abrahamic" religion have to accept the Jewish bible, with its story of Abraham, as an inspired word of God? Islam and "orthodox" Chistianity do. I don't see how the early "non-orthodox" Christian sects that completely rejected the Torah and ascribed it to a lesser deity who created the material world they did not worship could be considered "Abrahamic" if they had survived. They did not worship the God of Abraham.

Although I consider Latter Day Saints "Christian" (they claim they are, only God knows for sure, and I don't claim to know what God thinks), they are certainly an Abrahamic offshoot.

Couldn't Bahai' also be considered an "Abrahamic" faith, since its origin is in Islam and - as far as I understand - Bahai's accept the Judeo/Christian/Islamic scriptures as inspired by God?

Arguably, historical Deism and modern Unitarian/Universalism could be considered Abrahamic since their notions of "god" draw a lot on the Abrahamic creator of the universe god. U/U can also be considered "Christian" as well, but since they typicaly deny the orthodox Chrisitain claims about the divinity and uniqueness of Christ, they might not consider themselves Christian.
 
Plenty of people see Protestantism and Catholicism as essentially separate religions. Not so much in the West but in East Asia the question "Are you Catholic or Christian?" isn't uncommon, with Christian meaning Protestant.

I've heard the same thing from fundamentalist protestants in the US.

Actually, if forced, I would take the opposite tack. Roman Catholicism claims to trace its origins back to Paul and (through many means) became the only recognized Christian sect in the Roman Empire. They (and the Eastern Orthodox) are the closet major denominations to what may be considered the "original" Christianity once the creeds were established in the 3rd and 4th centuries. To Romans, it is the Protestants who left the fold and must return to the faith.
 
I've heard the same thing from fundamentalist protestants in the US.

Actually, if forced, I would take the opposite tack. Roman Catholicism claims to trace its origins back to Paul and (through many means) became the only recognized Christian sect in the Roman Empire. They (and the Eastern Orthodox) are the closet major denominations to what may be considered the "original" Christianity once the creeds were established in the 3rd and 4th centuries. To Romans, it is the Protestants who left the fold and must return to the faith.

Yeah, I've heard it both ways-Christian and Catholic in the US, Christian and Protestant in France. It annoys the hell out of me personally.
 
Wouldn't an "Abrahamic" religion have to accept the Jewish bible, with its story of Abraham, as an inspired word of God? Islam and "orthodox" Chistianity do. I don't see how the early "non-orthodox" Christian sects that completely rejected the Torah and ascribed it to a lesser deity who created the material world they did not worship could be considered "Abrahamic" if they had survived. They did not worship the God of Abraham.
What about the Samaritans? They accept only the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses) as scripture, so they consider Abraham to be their ancestor, but reject all of the Prophets later than Moses. I am no expert, but they sound a lot like the "original" Isrealites minus their polytheism. This could explain the historical hostility between the Samaritan and Jewish peoples, since the Jews accepted the whole Torah and the Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Torah.

Could the term "Samaritans" be related to the historical kingdom of Samaria, half (together with Judea) of the original Isreal? I do know that the two kingdoms' religious traditions were related but different.
 
Could the term "Samaritans" be related to the historical kingdom of Samaria, half (together with Judea) of the original Isreal? I do know that the two kingdoms' religious traditions were related but different.
According to 2 Kings, the Samaritans were a combination of those left around Samaria after the Assyrian conquest and deportation, intermarrying with the pagan people the Assyrians deported into the region. Their religious traditions mixed too, apparently. You can argue the relative numbers as much as you want, and they obviously ended up a lot closer to the Jewish end of the scale than the pagan, but I don't see any reason to doubt the story.
 
Yeah, I've heard it both ways-Christian and Catholic in the US, Christian and Protestant in France. It annoys the hell out of me personally.

Me too. As far as I am concerned, if someone self-identifies as a "Christian", who am I to say they aren't if they say they follow the ethical teachings of Christ or accept certain theological statements about him?

Note I used "or". I'm perfectly willing to consider an agnostic a "Christian" if he/she says its because of Jesus 's example or teachings or a hate-filled homophobe fascist a "Christian" if he/she believes the orthodox "Christian" statements about Jesus even though they may have the ethics of Hitler or Stalin. Only one entity knows if these people are really "Christians" and He doesn't share this opinion with us.
 
I've heard the same thing from fundamentalist protestants in the US.

Actually, if forced, I would take the opposite tack. Roman Catholicism claims to trace its origins back to Paul and (through many means) became the only recognized Christian sect in the Roman Empire. They (and the Eastern Orthodox) are the closet major denominations to what may be considered the "original" Christianity once the creeds were established in the 3rd and 4th centuries. To Romans, it is the Protestants who left the fold and must return to the faith.

Me too. As far as I am concerned, if someone self-identifies as a "Christian", who am I to say they aren't if they say they follow the ethical teachings of Christ or accept certain theological statements about him?

Well I already said this, but ironically whenever I hear the phrase "Catholic or Christian?" it's Catholics saying it. I agree with the fact that Catholicism and Orthodox would be the most traditional Christianities, though.
 
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