Can one be a moderate Christian?

The path Alyosha chose was a path going in the opposite direction, but he chose it with the same thirst for swift achievement. As soon as he reflected seriously he was convinced of the existence of God and immortality, and at once he instinctively said to himself:  “I want to live for immortality, and I will accept no compromise.”

Brothers Karamazov, chapter 5

I was reading an account of some debate in which one of the parties was described as a "moderate Catholic".  The more I thought about the phrase, the more curious it appeared to me.  Of course we routinely apply the adjective "moderate" to any number of affiliations;  it is a prized possession in some circles, you know - nothing too extreme.  But my curious thought is this.  It seems to me that Catholic (or Anglican or whatever you will) is a subset of Christian.  And to apply the term "moderate" in any sense to anything which is a subset of Christian is a mistake.  Can one be a 'moderate' Christian in any sense that bears the weight of the name itself? Can one be moderate about anything which bears the name of Christ?

In the same way, if he had decided that God and immortality did not exist, he would at once have become an atheist and a socialist.  [ibid]

Comments

[Leslie]

It is perhaps possible to be a moderate Misery Lutheran.

[scott]

C.S. Lewis probably said it best, that Christianity is not a framework, but a catastrophic event which must be accommodated and woven into any framework we create.

Certainly God is not described in the Bible as one who will separate the goats from the sheep from the moderate sheep from the marginal goats... he makes a clean split of it, although his evaluation of that split is his and his alone to make, and is not ours to guess.

In that sense, I can never say that a Christian is moderate, because to do so is a reflection of my uncertainty and not of their actual standing.

However, when talking about behaviour, piety and all the other cornerstones of a religion, using the word moderate makes perfect sense.

"I'm batting six for 10 on the commandments this week, so I guess you could say I'm a moderate Christian."

I'd have been seven for 10, but the last guy wouldn't say it. >:(