Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind.

Mainly I would distinguish the two by stating a practicing Christian is one who is following the teachings of the bible (ie attending church regularly, praying every day etc) and one who believes in God simply follows in his or her own fashion without following the church or bible.

A person that believes in God, is someone who believes that there is a higher purpose that is the cause of everything that is and will ever be. They don't have any specific rules by which they have to live by. They just know that there is something out there. A person that practices Christian religion is someone who believes that their God is a higher power out there as well. The main difference between the two, is that unlike the simple believer; the christian believes everything is a certain way. God is not just a higher power, he is the father the sun and the holy spirit. They believe that everything can be answered from their handbook for life(Bible) And they decide that certain things are sins, because the bible sais so. So, to sum it up: Christians are way more specific in what they believe in.And that leads them to be more judgemental if people dont agree with "their" way.

A person who practices the Christian religion may believe in God as well.The way they do things is just their way which is not necessarily wrong ,it is just the way they choose to worship themselves via God

You really don't. Each person is truly only distinguishable, one from the other, by God alone. No one knows what truth lies within the hearts of men and women other than God Himself. I believe this is pretty clearly addressed within the Christian Bible.

The disciple James said to those who professed to be Christ’s disciples: “You believe there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder.” (Jas. 2:19) According to that, the superhuman demons are doing better than the vast majority of men and women who do not at all believe in God. In this respect, whose example shall we be safe in following? That of unbelieving men and women? Or that of demons who do believe and yet do nothing more about it than shudder? Or that of Jesus Christ whose personal life on earth is testified to by the twenty-seven books of the inspired Christian Greek Scriptures? Yes, you can distinguish between a person who “simply believes in God” and a true Christian by observing the way that they deal with others. Are they honest, sober, and kind? Do they know how to forgive? Do they exhibit self-control and good judgment, making personal decisions that reflect “The mind of Christ”? Do they obey Christ’s command to “preach the good news”? Remember though, if we wish to be able to recognize those who are truly “walking in the way of the Christ”, should we not ourselves be familiar with God’s Word so that we might be able to recognize His followers when we see them?

Only God knows the heart of a person and we do not need to. Take their expression of faith at face value and let them define themselves in terms of their own beliefs.

I am the daughter of a Christian minister, but not very doctrinally faithful myself. I DO believe,however, in a higher power. I consider myself spiritual but not religious. That is what I think it is all about. If you think humanity is not an accident, not a blip on the radar screen of the cosmos, but that there is some reason--even if we don't yet know it--you might believe in some definition of "God." If you are "Christian," you believe in only the Christian's version of God: that Christ laid down his life so that humanity could have another shot at redemption...already having botched and sullied Eden.

In my opinion, a person can believe in God but not be of God. A "practing" Christian will show the fruits of the spirit. Only God truly knows if the person is saved. There are lots of good people out there that are going to hell because they've commited the greatest sin in God's eyes by not accepting Jesus as their personal saviour. Great question.

christians believe that jesus is the son of god.People who just believe in god usually don't say anything about jesus

According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, a Christian is: Main Entry: 1Chris·tian Pronunciation: 'kris-ch&n, 'krish- Function: noun Etymology: Latin christianus, adjective & noun, from Greek christianos, from Christos 1 a : one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ b (1) : DISCIPLE 2 (2) : a member of one of the Churches of Christ separating from the Disciples of Christ in 1906 (3) : a member of the Christian denomination having part in the union of the United Church of Christ concluded in 1961 2 : the hero in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress The word Christian is from Latin, and literally means "one of Christ". Not all believers in Deity or the Divine are believers in the Biblical god, or believers in Christ. The key cornerstone of a Christian is belief in the teachings of Christ. I disagree with Merriam-Webster that one must "profess" (outwardly state) a belief in Christ. Those who do not believe in the teachings of Christ are not Christian. The debate about who is actually a Christian and who is not rages inside the Christian faith. More information about this debate can be found here: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn.htm From a sociological perspective, religion is self-identifying. That is, if you tell someone on a survey that you are Christian, you will be recorded as a Christian and the statistical analysis will group you with the Christians. Therefore, someone is a Christian if he/she says he/she is a Christian.

A person who practices the Christian religion believes that the path to God is through Christ. Muslims, Jews and millions of others who believe in God do not believe that the path to God is through Christ; or they believe that the path to God CAN be through Christ but can also go other ways and reach the same destination.

Well since you said no downpoints, I honestly believe that their are very few Christians left. There are alot of "sunday christians" which means that they go to church on sudays but forget about Christianity every other day. There are Christians that don't go to church, not that this is wrong it isn't in the bible but it is common practice. There are Christians who kill (been happening forever see Crusades), Christians who drink, Christians who commit adultry, Christians are sinning and have been sinning forever. A true Christian would be one who practices a life free from sin. Anyone ealse just believes in god. Just FYI I am a born Baha'i. Being 15 I have not yet made a decission about religion yet.

Simple-- If you believe in God you will do as he says, but you will also fail greatly for we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. So in other words a believer will practice what he preaches. Someone who just practices Religion doesnt necessarliy believe in God, so these people will attend church faithfully and boast about their good deeds and feel they are saved by their actions in church, but may be a totally different person outside of church.This is my opinion.

This is a tough question actually. A person who believes in God and a person who practices the Christian religion have a lot in common. They both attend services. They both pray and read their Bible. It's in the actions though. The person who believes in God stives to be like God in the effect that they are slow to anger and slow to judge. The person who merely practices the religion (aka... religious person) is more likely to be quick to anger and quick to judge. That is the person who gives a lot of Christians a bad rap. Theologically... Christians believe that God manifest Himself into flesh and then eventually died on the cross to save us from Hell and the Grave. A person who believes simply in God may be Jewish... they may not believe that God has delivered His people.

witch one is malestin little boys?

I'm going to assume that you mean the Christian God here, as without that distinction it *is* a trick question. Christianity is long on belief and short on ritual, so it is difficult to "practice" Christianity without belief. I have heard that Islam is roughly the opposite, requiring more ritual than belief. Judaism also is a mostly ritual religion, which is why there are so many atheist Jews. Modern Paganism is also mostly ritual, so there are atheist Pagans as well (I think the term is "Zoroastrian Pagans"). If you aren't Catholic the practice of Christianity becomes even harder to accomplish without belief, as non-Catholic Christianity has very few rituals other than Sunday Church. Catholics in my experience do tend to believe more than most Christians, but Catholics have more rituals than other Christians so it is possible to appear Catholic without belief.

I have known a lot of people who were practising Christians that were selfishm, judgemental and full of prejudice. I also know a lot of people who I call spiritual who are caring and alturistic human beings. They believe in a greater power, they believe in the spiritual side of human existance, but help others and show love freely because they care about humanity, not because their religion tells them to and that they may earn brownie points from their "God". I think that to class all "good" acts as Christian is hypocritical and judgemental to the extreme. Look at all the prejudices happening in todays world and a lot of them are performed by leaders who claim to be "practising Christians", maybe their religion gives them a sense of power, which to me is the opposite of what Jesus preached.

any one can believe in God. Any one can be a good and rightious person. There are many people who are "christians" but are not good people. It is possible to be one and not the other, and very possible to be both. Alot of really good people believe in God, but don't like organized religion because of an experience they had that wasn't so pleasent. It could also be that they simply haven't found the right church.

if you practice the christion religion you are a person who belives in God!!

It's not the kind of thing you can tell just by looking. I would say, ask them.

Many religions believe in God, including Islam. Itis faith in Jesus Christ as Savior that makes a "Christian".

The basic answere is christians believe christ is a big part of everything. Ussually the son of god and all that. Hence the name CHRISTian. There are a lot of religions that believe in a god/gods but dont think christ was anything or if anything just a good guy/prophet. So if they believe jesus was the son of god there CHRISTian. If not there not christian.

The basic answere is christians believe christ is a big part of everything. Ussually the son of god and all that. Hence the name CHRISTian. There are a lot of religions that believe in a god/gods but dont think christ was anything or if anything just a good guy/prophet. So if they believe jesus was the son of god there CHRISTian. If not there not christian.

TO BELIEVE IN SOMETHING IS EASY WE BELIEVE IN EVERYDAY THINGS ALL THE TIME.BUT THE ONE WHO BELIEVES AND PRACTICES IS THE ONE WHO NOT ONLY BELIEVES BUT WHO HAS FAITH THAT WILL SEE THEM THROUGH.I THINK ALOT OF PEOPLE BELIEVE IN GOD BUT DON'T PRACTICE WHAT HE HAS LAID OUT FOR US TO DO AS CHRISTIANS.YOU CAN USUALLY DISDISTINGUISH THE TWO BY THE LIFE THEY LEAD, A TREE WILL BE KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT!!!!!!

I don't think that you can. Belief in God comes from within based on one's faith and willingness to believe, something that no one else but God can see. Anyone can go to church, but it takes someone who is willing to be in Christ and trust God's will to be a true believer.

the they act and do stuff>

One will talk a good game; the other will demonstrate what he believes through his actions.

Examples of Love, Humbleness, Giving, Kindness, Hard Working, Selflessness... Barbara

As the fruit of a tree identifies it, so the results of human actions identify what kind of people are producing them. Jesus Christ, the Founder of Christianity, pointed this out. He said: “A good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.”—Matthew 7:18, 20. It is not different today. True Christianity still produces good fruit. The tree, the Christian organization, that Jesus planted over 2,000 years ago was good, and it is still good. So it is incapable of producing the bad fruits, Why, then, has bad fruits been so common in Christendom? It is true that individuals may do wrong and need correction. But the situation is different when church members, even the clergy, indulge in fornication and adultery, fighting, drunkenness, greediness, lying, spiritism, worship of idols—any or all of these things—yet no discipline is administered, and those who continue in this course are not excluded from the congregation. The Bible clearly states that those who practice such things should be expelled from the congregation; they will have no place in God’s Kingdom. (Galatians 5:19-21) Their worship is not pleasing to God, nor will our worship please God if we choose as associates those whom he rejects.—1 Corinthians 5:11-13; 6:9, 10; Revelation The apostle Paul indicated that the time would come when imitation Christians would appear. They would bear the name Christian but not live up to it or produce its good fruits. He told elders from Ephesus: “I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:29, 30) From these apostates arose Christendom with its hundreds of conflicting religious organizations teaching things that are merely represented as being Christian. Actually, they are “twisted things,” ideas of men and not the truth of God’s Word. It has been among these false Christians that the bad fruitage of fanaticism has manifested itself.

Not sure I understand the question.Would you consider rephrasing it? Might just be me.

Listen and watch people over an extended period of time. Who are the ones who speak and act most lovingly?

to me, believing in God means a personal relationship with Him and desire to please Him. practicing a religion could be done in a robotic way and God's love never shining through you. many people say they believe or go to church but they are heartless, all relationships require and deserve one's full attention.

A person who believes in God doesn't necessarily wear their religion on their sleeve. In other words, they don't tout their belief in other's faces. They have God in their everyday life. Whereas I know some people who regularly attend church, but don't conduct themselves in a true Christian manner in their everyday relationships.

u can't..only God can do that....an Obese Christain has no right to condemn or chastise a smoker or drug addict...it is sin ..same as adultery, theft or murder....this is for God only..that's why HE has Judgement Day...but a good Christian leads by example , home, work, etc..more than any other means..same as raising kids, it starts at home..rules, respect, responsibility...Alan Jackson's song, "small town man", ur greatest contributions are the ones u leave behind!!

Many people believe in God, but not in Christ, so hopefully I do not misunderstand your question. True believers in God and who hopefully strive to be like Christ, no matter if they are practicing in a "church", will do what is right, will be honest, and strive to be loving, caring and forgiving, when NO ONE is watching, and when they get NO credit for doing so. True lovers of Father and His son, has the Holy Spirit invited into their heart, and attempts to please God, not to please other members of church or anyone else, but to walk for God, and do what is closest to what the Word says to do.