Don, you asked, "Little Hawk (and others), can a church that does not take its core beliefs from the teachings of Jesus really, legitimately, call itself a "Christian" church?"

That's a question worth asking. But anyone can call themselves anything they choose to, can't they? If they choose to...

But here's another question. Was Jesus a Christian? I don't think so. As far as I know, he was a Jew, endeavouring to reform the teachings in the Jewish church of his time. Furthermore, I think he was giving a Universalist teaching that transcended all organized religions. In this respect I think he went far beyond being "Christian" or Jewish, but that's just my private opinion.

I think that all truly great prophets (such as Jesus, Buddha, and Krishna, for example) go way beyond the limitations of belonging to any single identifiable faith. It's their followers who come after them who insist upon faith labels and exclusivity. Their followers take a message of universality and turn it into a message of exclusivity!

Thus does the jealous human ego in people undo the works of the greatest spiritual teachers and turn them into a competitive struggle for superemacy between different official religions. They divide people instead of uniting them. And that's sad!

I wrote a song once called "Jesus Was Not a Christian". It's praiseworthy of Jesus, and quite critical of various aspects of the religion(s) founded in his name.