I would say that any person who believes in the Nicene Creed or the digest version, the Apostles Creed, is on the short list for being a Christian.

Here is the Nicene Creed that I took from the Lutheran Churches Book of Worship:

"We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen."


My dear fundamentalist friends may note that the Nicene Creed does not mention the Bible.  Why is that?  The Bible did not come into existence until several hundred years after the death of Christ.  The Church made the Bible and declared what books would be included.  The early Church proceeded on Holy Tradition, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, and reference to whatever books were circulating at that time.