What beliefs are universally accepted across all denominations?

[JohnB445]

From what I see.

1. There is 1 God
2. Jesus being God in the flesh
3. The Trinity
4. The Bible being the word of God
5. The belief in a heaven and hell
6. Nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own

 

[Offline4Better.]

From what I see.

1. There is 1 God
2. Jesus being God in the flesh
3. The Trinity
4. The Bible being the word of God
5. The belief in a heaven and hell
6. Nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own

Amen to this. I will plug this into the AI, and see what other tenets of Christianity are common as well, as the AI is hooked up to documents from multiple denominations.

 

[Offline4Better.]

Alright, @JohnB445 , this is what the machine said. All of your 6 points are in there, plus two more. So, my fellow Christians, we are more similar than different. Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, we are all one in Christ.

 

[Hoping2]

I think there are too many denominations to hazard a guess.
I think they all believe there is a God.

 

[The Liturgist]

From what I see.

1. There is 1 God
2. Jesus being God in the flesh
3. The Trinity
4. The Bible being the word of God
5. The belief in a heaven and hell
6. Nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own

The Christian Forums Statement of Faith I think is a good place to start, since it was written to be as inclusive as possible while still explicitly Christian.

 

[Ain't Zwinglian]

Alright, @JohnB445 , this is what the machine said. All of your 6 points are in there, plus two more. So, my fellow Christians, we are more similar than different. Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics, Orthodox, we are all one in Christ.

View attachment 353972

Nothing about Creation. Nothing about the Fall. Nothing about man's anthropology.

 

[Offline4Better.]

The Christian Forums Statement of Faith I think is a good place to start, since it was written to be as inclusive as possible while still explicitly Christian.

What about the Nicene Creed? Most Christians accept it.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
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.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

[Offline4Better.]

Nothing about Creation. Nothing about the Fall. Nothing about man's anthropology.

Yeah, the fall of Man and Creation could be in there as well, but the list is good enough. We could expand the list, but 6 or 8 points are pretty good. However, there are YECs and OECs, so that could be something that not all Christians agree on. For instance, I am an Old-Earth Creationist, while others may be Young-Earth.

 

[The Liturgist]

What about the Nicene Creed? Most Christians accept it.

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
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.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The CF.com Statement of Faith includes it, plus a few additional statements in response to issues like people denying St. Paul’s status as an Apostle.

CF Statement of Faith

www.christianforums.com

 

[Offline4Better.]

The CF.com Statement of Faith includes it, plus a few additional statements in response to issues like people denying St. Paul’s status as an Apostle.

CF Statement of Faith

www.christianforums.com

I have no idea why any person on God's green Earth would deny St. Paul. People are weird man.

 

[The Liturgist]

I have no idea why any person on God's green Earth would deny St. Paul. People are weird man.

Evidently, since someone occasionally pops up doing just that.

 

[Isaac the Recluse]

I expected someone, tongue-in-cheek, would have said that every denomination is like-minded that 'our' denomination is the correct truth and everyone else are heretics, but am pleasantly surprised.

Btw, Nicene Creed by name, yes, but when you give the text it comes up against the Orthodox/Roman Catholic schism. No schism, possibly no Protestantism either. So the Nicene Creed isn't a good example of what we all agree on, it's arguably the root of our differences.

 

[The Liturgist]

I expected someone, tongue-in-cheek, would have said that every denomination is like-minded that 'our' denomination is the correct truth and everyone else are heretics, but am pleasantly surprised.

Btw, Nicene Creed by name, yes, but when you give the text it comes up against the Orthodox/Roman Catholic schism. No schism, possibly no Protestantism either. So the Nicene Creed isn't a good example of what we all agree on, it's arguably the root of our differences.

I am unable to agree with that interpretation, because the actual causes of the schisms are more complex, and the schisms of Rome both with us and with the Protestants were not an event but a process, although I will say that we, the Orthodox were entirelt blameless. Rome going back on its agreement to drop the Filioque at the Eighth Ecumenical Synod in Constantinople did increase tensions, but we did not sever communion over that. Indeed we, the Orthodox, tried as much as canonically possible to avoid a rupture in communion. And the schism was so greatly distressing that a majority of the Greek bishops, indeed all except St. Mark of Ephesus, were prepared to capitulate at the Council of Florence, but fortunately, the laity of the Byzantine Empire took the brave decision to prevent that from happening, even though such action contributed to Turkocratia. But Turkocratia was better than losing Orthodoxy.

Also I would note that the Oriental Orthodox agree with the Eastern Orthodox on the Filioque (as one would expect), but also so do the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East. Some, I think most, Eastern Catholics also do not use it, but they are of course in communion with the Roman church which does. Also some Protestant churches have dropped the filioque.

 

[Lukaris]

Maybe the Apostles Creed.

Apostles' Creed

www.crcna.org

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

From what I see.

1. There is 1 God
2. Jesus being God in the flesh
3. The Trinity
4. The Bible being the word of God
5. The belief in a heaven and hell
6. Nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own

Tragic that salvation cannot be lost is not one of them

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

Maybe the Apostles Creed.

Apostles' Creed

www.crcna.org

I know Baptists (not sure if it's just some or all of them) who do not use Creeds at all

 

[Isaac the Recluse]

I am unable to agree with that interpretation, because the actual causes of the schisms are more complex, and the schisms of Rome both with us and with the Protestants were not an event but a process, although I will say that we, the Orthodox were entirelt blameless. Rome going back on its agreement to drop the Filioque at the Eighth Ecumenical Synod in Constantinople did increase tensions, but we did not sever communion over that. Indeed we, the Orthodox, tried as much as canonically possible to avoid a rupture in communion. And the schism was so greatly distressing that a majority of the Greek bishops, indeed all except St. Mark of Ephesus, were prepared to capitulate at the Council of Florence, but fortunately, the laity of the Byzantine Empire took the brave decision to prevent that from happening, even though such action contributed to Turkocratia. But Turkocratia was better than losing Orthodoxy.

Also I would note that the Oriental Orthodox agree with the Eastern Orthodox on the Filioque (as one would expect), but also so do the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East. Some, I think most, Eastern Catholics also do not use it, but they are of course in communion with the Roman church which does. Also some Protestant churches have dropped the filioque.

I'm aware the schism was a complicated process, one that I haven't studied in depth. I wasn't trying to summarise the intricacies, only to highlight for this thread that the wording of the Nicene Creed is not universaĺly agreed. And I also said 'arguably' the root of differences. Forgive me for oversimplifying. I do need to to that for my own thinking, but it's not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[trophy33]

Depends on how we define denominations. If we include groups like Mormons, Unitarians etc, then the only thing all can agree is there is a God and that Jesus was important. And some kind of respect for the Bible.

If we include only groups defined as Christian by this forum, then more things can be added.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

From what I see.

1. There is 1 God
2. Jesus being God in the flesh
3. The Trinity
4. The Bible being the word of God
5. The belief in a heaven and hell
6. Nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own

Christian denominations? Only one, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our Savior, it is what makes one a Christian. As far as the rest of your list, not "every" denomination would agree with it.

 

[KevinT]

I expected someone, tongue-in-cheek, would have said that every denomination is like-minded that 'our' denomination is the correct truth and everyone else are heretics, but am pleasantly surprised.

Btw, Nicene Creed by name, yes, but when you give the text it comes up against the Orthodox/Roman Catholic schism. No schism, possibly no Protestantism either. So the Nicene Creed isn't a good example of what we all agree on, it's arguably the root of our differences. (kt added underline)

I agree. The Nicene Creed was a document intended to "standardize" Christianity, and was specifically crafted to head off certain beliefs. But ultimately, it is an interpretation of scriptures and not the scriptures themselves.

I asked GPT which denominations do not follow the Nicene Creed and got this:

• Jehovah's Witnesses: This denomination does not believe in the Trinity, instead advocating for a view of God as a single person.
• Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints): Mormons believe in a unique concept of the Trinity, involving three separate divine beings who are one in purpose.
• Unitarians: This denomination generally rejects the Trinitarian doctrine, emphasizing the oneness of God.
• Oneness Pentecostals: They believe that God exists as a single person, with Jesus being a manifestation of God.

I am not Morman (LDS), but when I look at their position statement on God here I am inclined to NOT want to get into splitting hairs. They state that they feel the Father has a "human-like body." I disagree, but I don't feel it is something that should be used to divide fellow seekers of God.

KT