Statement of Faith

January 2, 2007 by
Filed under: Religion 

At one point a few months ago, a reader complained (in comments in another blog) that I didn’t include my theology in my blog.  At the time I decided not to because it was likely to generate more heat than light.

When searching for and joining my church, I wrote the document below.  It was both a tool for me to personally discern my beliefs and a document that I wrote to answer a potential question by the church about my beliefs.

I present it to you now because it’s relatively quiet.  I hope that any discussion will be civil. (And yes, the title is a play on the title of a Presbyterian document.)

(You need to click the link below to see the whole thing if you’re reading directly on the blog.)

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I believe in God. There is a central power that created the universe and continues to be involved in it to some degree of its own choosing. This power is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. God is generally benevolent, but He can really pack a punch when we’ve gone off the tracks and need correction.

I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus was immaculately conceived and born as man by Mary under fantastic and humble circumstances. I believe that Jesus is both a creation of God and a part of God. I believe that Jesus was sent to earth to teach a two-part message – Love God and Love Each Other. The path that this process took involved teaching, the gathering of followers (including the 12 Disciples), the performing of miracles, and finally the death on the cross and resurrection.

I believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit completes the triune nature of God. The Spirit is responsible for breathing and continuing life in the continued worship and teachings of God.

I believe that man was created in God’s image. I also believe that in each of us there is good and sin in varying balance. There is no human born who is completely sinful or completely free of sin – indeed, it is impossible to be without sin. I believe that the purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice is to redeem our sins for all eternity. God does not give up on us, though from time to time we may give up on Him – wholly or in part.

I believe that Holy Scripture (defined as the books of the Holy Bible) is inspired by God. I also believe that Holy Scripture has been filtered by man. It is only through study of Scripture and the circumstances of those who wrote it that we can discern God’s will for us today.

I believe that God calls us to commune together. This is done for the purpose of worshipping God and to serve those in need. I believe that God does not discriminate against any of his followers or those who may someday choose to follow him. Indeed, I believe that the most humble among us have the most to give to the glory of God. The highest forms of this communion are the Baptism into the life of Christ and community of believers, and the regular celebration of Eucharist as commanded by Christ.

God calls us to live a moral life. The teachings of Jesus serve as the basis of that morality. However, it is a sin for one person to believe that they know the One True Morality that Christ provides us. It is impossible for us, in our sinful condition, to understand fully the life that God wants us to live. We get close to the truth but from time to time, as a group, with more divine inspiration, we are able to discern a new understanding of God’s will for us. Indeed, it is only through a study of different beliefs that each of us can help to discern (as well as we can) what God wishes.

I believe that each of us has a calling to be a part of God’s plan for the world. For some that calling is to serve the Church, completely or part of the time. For others that calling may be to serve a different function in human society – in part to be an example of Christ’s love to all. All calls are equally important to God.

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Comments

2 Comments on Statement of Faith

  1. jodie on Wed, 3rd Jan 2007 12:35 pm

    2. Hi Mark,

    Nicely said. I can see what you did.

    There was a time I could clearly articulate my faith but in recent years it has become more difficult. To say what I believe about God is like saying what I believe about the water in a swimming pool when I am 3 feet below the surface… I just don’t know what to say that captures the feeling. Plus, I can’t talk very well under water.

    I am beginning to think that confessions of faith and doctrines are overrated.

    Then again, I feel more than ever that Christians – myself included – need to be able to articulate their faith in response to the religious and political climate we are beginning to face. Christianity is coming face to face with Islam for the first time in over 500 years. Protestantism never has. The politics of the Middle East and the shadow of the Holocaust bring us face to face with what we believe about Judaism and Israel and nationalism and people’s rights and the definition of God’s people and of our own living space. Our moral responsibility as citizens of a democracy that throws its weight around like a bull in a china shop demands that we understand what Jesus asks of us as his disciples. It is not just about saying the right words so that when we die we go to the right place, like some kind of magic formula or incantation. It is not merely about having the right thoughts in our heads or exhibiting proper sexual behavior. Maybe even it has nothing to do with those things. Rather it is much more about >doing justice<, >loving mercy<, and >walking humbly< with our God here and now, for all to experience the benefits. Then there is “The Gospel”. What exactly is it? Most statements of faith seem to assume everybody knows what it is, and move on to what I presume they think are more important issues. See for example “The Mission and the Values” of the Kirk on the Hills from Tulsa. Seven pages long, starting with a whole page on what they believe about the bible, lots of references to the Gospel, but never once do they say what it is. Is it just irrelevant to their polemic (?!) or is it because they don’t really know? But maybe it is the fault of the Apostle's and the Nicene Creeds. As the archetypes of all future statements of faith, they jump straight from the virgin birth to the death and resurrection as if the gospels had nothing to say in between. So it all ends up about the nature of Jesus, the definition of the Trinity, the atonement and the afterlife. Maybe trying to explain the inexplicable takes our minds off the things we really >can< explain. I think that what we will need to say to the world today more than anything else is >what< is the news of the Gospel and what makes it so compellingly >good< above and beyond all other faiths as to make it truly of divine origin. Without it we are just flailing wildly, and we should not be surprised when our kids come home praying five times a day facing Mecca. So maybe its not that confessions are overrated but it is that they are inadequate, grossly inadequate, to the current task. People are using them instead of listening and thinking. We should be jumping in and swimming. We should be responsive to the questions >the world< is really asking. Which brings me to what I like about your posts. They show someone who is listening hard and then trying; really trying to unravel this overcooked ball of spaghetti we call “faith”. My own statement of faith (today) is this: Jesus lives! (Everything else is negotiable) Jodie

  2. Mark on Wed, 3rd Jan 2007 2:45 pm

    3. Wow. Your comment is longer than my statement! 🙂

    I’m with you when you say that faith should be just as much about what we do today (ourselves) as what happened in the past. That’s the only way to have a living faith – to take action based on our beliefs. While getting others to believe the same things as us is good, it’s more important to live life the right way.

    And thanks for the compliment.

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