"... not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

...truth from the mouth of an Atheist.

When I was home for Christmas some of my friends alerted me to an article which had appeared in an issue of a local magazine called Portland Monthly. The article was a dialogue between famed Atheist Christopher Hitchens and a Portland area pastor who claims to be a liberal Christian. While I disagree with many things Hitchens said, I did appreciate his assessment of the liberal's belief system:

Marilyn Sewell (Liberal “Christian”): The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Christopher Hitchens (Atheist): I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

The whole interview is here.