Define Christian

Christian Century, Feb 26, 2008

DEFINE CHRISTIAN: The late R. M. Hare, an Oxford philosopher who also taught at the University of Florida, wrote an essay early in his career that was never published, in which he argued that without faith in God, philosophy is not a serious pursuit, only a game. But in his subsequent work religion was not much of a factor.

His son John, also a philosopher, writes that his father did attend Anglican worship services regularly and recited the creeds, although it was not clear how much of the creeds he accepted. When people asked him if he was a Christian, the elder Hare's response always was, "I don't know. I'll tell you what I believe, and then you tell me whether you count me a Christian or not" (Times Literary Supplement, January 18).