A minister in the Presbyterian Church USA who denies the existence of God still wants to be called a “Christian”:
“The concept of ‘God’ is a product of myth-making and ‘God’ is no longer credible as a personal, supernatural being,” [John Shuck] wrote in a blog post on his site Shuck and Jive. “Jesus may have been historical, but most of the stories about Him in the Bible and elsewhere are legends.” […]
“[E]ven though I hold those beliefs, I am still a proud minister. But I don’t appreciate being told that I’m not truly a Christian,” he stated. “Many liberal or progressive Christians have already let go or de-emphasized belief in Heaven, that the Bible is literally true, that Jesus is supernatural, and that Christianity is the only way. Yet they still practice what they call Christianity.”
I wear baseball caps and can go through the motions of throwing and catching, but that doesn’t make me third baseman for the Cubs.
Outspoken atheist Christopher Hitchens said it best:
If you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
Or to quote Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”