Huh?

I think it would probably help to add a few pieces of context.

Bob Jensen is a journalism professor and social-justice activist (a euphemism for "he complains about Bush all the time") at UT. He's a nice guy. I took one of his courses. I like him.

The church he's going to, without faith apparently, has a pastor who is also a good guy, and sort of a social justice activist. I can't recall his name, but he tends to show up protests a lot.

I think the context I'm trying to add is that this piece is sort of a bit of Austin progressive hobnobbery. The message being "hey, we're all good people, and Jesus was a good guy, why must these conservative christian (e.g. Republicans) all be assholes?!?"

I used to think that if you believed in Jesus that you were a Christian. That gets you a few hundred current religious groups who all disagree with each other and think the others are wrong and often going to hell.

Nice lot, those "Christians".

I second Greg's "huh?".

It's not just about "believing in Jesus." Afterall, Jewish historians believe Jesus existed. Muslims believe that Jesus (Isa) is a highly regarded prophet whose teachings were reflective of the Word of God. Neither group would ever claim this makes them Christians.

Instead, a Christian (from a purely theological perspective) is one who believes that Jesus is the son of God - moreover, that He is both entirely God and entirely man. A much more detailed view of the majority of Christians is contained within the Nicene Creed.

There's a lot more to being a Christian than just believing that Jesus existed and that his teachings have merit. Afterall, most Christians believe that Mahatma Gandhi existed and agree with his teachings, yet they don't worship him.

I'm glad Mr. Jensen, as an athiest, at least respects the views of others and is willing to at least consider them. He should not, however, confuse this with sharing the beliefs of those with whom he has chosen to associate.

You are a Christian and don't let anyone tell you differently. The current churches (Catholic and mainstream Protestant) require you to worship the divinity of Jesus but Jesus never came up with that requirement. With the exception of a few quotes out of the Gospel of John, all the synoptic Gospels agree that Jesus didn't give a rats ass if you believed in his divinity or not - he merely wanted us to love one another.
You are a not a Christianists like the vast majority of church goers but you are a Christian if you try to practice the life that Jesus preached. Read about it in the Bible.