Reply #27: This is a more difficult question than you realize.

[knitter4democracy]

The Church has been trying to define this from day one. In the early Church (and still in the Eastern Orthodox Church), you had to spend a year in study and prayer and then be baptized and chrismated after confessing that you believed in the Creed. At first, it was just the Apostle's Creed, but then, the Church kept adding to it until the Nicene Creed was finalized at the last ecumenical council (well, the Catholics added to it later, and Western Christianity in general accepts that version).

As a Christian, I go with how a person defines him/herself. It is not my place to judge whether or not someone who self-identifies as a Christian actually is one or not. I get grumpy when I see decidedly unChrist-like behavior, sure, but I hesitate to say that person's not a real Christian, as it's not my place to judge anyone.