There is a logical fallacy that goes by the name No True Scotsman, based off of the classic example of its abuse. The fallacy occurs where the meaning of a term is ad hoc redefined to make a desired assertion about it true. However, I really think that this fallacy should be renamed the No True Christian fallacy, as I encounter its abuse far more often from Christians than Scotsmen. Just take the most recent example from an exchange with somebody named David in which I am involved on theBEattitude (slightly abbreviated):

James: Realized after reading Bart Ehrman’s “Lost Christianities” that the early Christian religion was a mess of disputed doctrines and teachings, not a pleasant little scenic drive from Jesus to the Catholic Church.

David: We take God at his word, and nothing more.

James: That’s precisely the problem. Different groups of people claiming to know what God says. That’s why that ’scenic drive’ was more like a winding up-hill dirt path for the first 300-400 years or so. You don’t suppose that the Catholic Church won the day by politely correcting other people’s ‘incorrect’ interpretations? Of course not. Political power + the sword.

David: Except that nobody else was around during the time of Christ. There were no Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians or Baptists. There were Christians and everyone else.

James: Nope. I will quote from the opening pages of Ehrman’s “Lost Christianities” (note the plural title):

“The wide diversity of early Chritianity may be seen above all in the theological beliefs embraced by people who understood themselves to be followers of Jesus…[the quotation goes on to list the many ways in which early Christians understood Jesus].”

And that is just with regards to who Jesus was. The varied “lost Christianities” might have remained forever lost if not for a few of their writings surviving all those centuries intact. To pretend that they didn’t exist or didn’t matter is woefully ignorant at best and maliciously obscurantist at worst.

Now, with the set up out of the way, here comes the No True Christian fallacy in action:

David: The only Christians believed that Christ was 100% man and 100% God. Those that professed any other formula were teaching heresy. This is not lost to Catholics. I can name the heresies backwards and forwards. They are not Chrisitans, plain and simple. Protestants are heretical too. All of them had the partial truth. The Catholic Church has and always has had the fullness of the truth-100% truth.

James: Now you are just making a classic use of the ‘No True Scotsman’ fallacy. The point, which you seemed to miss, was that they all believed themselves to be true Christians and all the others to be wrong. Big deal. What is “Christian” was precisely what was completely up for grabs for the first several hundred years until one sect gained enough political power and influence to snuff out dissenting views through book burnings or bullying.

All for changing the name to the “No True Christian” fallacy say Aye.