A Personal Creed

[NewTestamentChristian]

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, whose eternal purpose breathes meaning into the world, whose will calls me to authentic being.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Through Him all things were made, and in Him I find the ground of my being. For me and for my salvation, He entered the absurdity of human existence, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, fully God and fully human. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, bearing the weight of my sin and despair. On the third day, He rose again, conquering death and revealing the hope of eternal life. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling with mercy and justice. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified. He speaks to my soul in the silence of choice, convicting, guiding, and sustaining me in the freedom and responsibility of my existence.

I believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, a Universal Church that is Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a sacred act that binds me to Christ’s death and resurrection. I look forward the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come, where meaning is fulfilled in the presence of God.

I believe that I am created free, yet bound by sin, called to choose Christ in every moment, to wrestle with doubt, and to embrace faith as an act of courage. In my finitude, I am known by the Infinite; In my striving, I am held by grace. To God alone be glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

 

[jas3]

What is the point of this?

 

[Richard T]

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, whose eternal purpose breathes meaning into the world, whose will calls me to authentic being.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Through Him all things were made, and in Him I find the ground of my being. For me and for my salvation, He entered the absurdity of human existence, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, fully God and fully human. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, bearing the weight of my sin and despair. On the third day, He rose again, conquering death and revealing the hope of eternal life. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling with mercy and justice. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is andored and glorified. He speaks to my soul in the silence of choice, convicting, guiding, and sustaining me in the freedom and responsibility of my existence.

I believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, a Universal Church that is Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a sacred act that binds me to Christ’s death and resurrection. I look forward the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come, where meaning is fulfilled in the presence of God.

I believe that I am created free, yet bound by sin, called to choose Christ in every moment, to wrestle with doubt, and to embrace faith as an act of courage. In my finitude, I am known by the Infinite; In my striving, I am held by grace. To God alone be glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Nice effort to lay out your beliefs. I only suggest two things. Absurdity seems kind of negative. God is never absurd.
Secondly, does baptism forgive sins? Not to me,

 

[NewTestamentChristian]

What is the point of this?

I consider it a spiritual exercise.

Nice effort to lay out your beliefs. I only suggest two things. Absurdity seems kind of negative. God is never absurd.
Secondly, does baptism forgive sins? Not to me,

God is not absurd. I'm using the term absurdity in the sense that life is confusing and meaningless without conforming to God's will, as understood by Ecclesiastes and the Prophets. And as far as baptism goes, I'd say that we can root out our own opinions regarding certain sacraments. I honestly don't think they mean much collectively. What matters is the individual's faith before God.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, whose eternal purpose breathes meaning into the world, whose will calls me to authentic being.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Through Him all things were made, and in Him I find the ground of my being. For me and for my salvation, He entered the absurdity of human existence, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, fully God and fully human. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, bearing the weight of my sin and despair. On the third day, He rose again, conquering death and revealing the hope of eternal life. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling with mercy and justice. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is andored and glorified. He speaks to my soul in the silence of choice, convicting, guiding, and sustaining me in the freedom and responsibility of my existence.

I believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, a Universal Church that is Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a sacred act that binds me to Christ’s death and resurrection. I look forward the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come, where meaning is fulfilled in the presence of God.

I believe that I am created free, yet bound by sin, called to choose Christ in every moment, to wrestle with doubt, and to embrace faith as an act of courage. In my finitude, I am known by the Infinite; In my striving, I am held by grace. To God alone be glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Your own creedal construction here is interesting, but I'm not sure it is an exercise in philosophy as much as it is one in theology.

Since we're at it, though, how would we go about constructing our own literary canon of sacred scripture? Now, that would be a philosophical question I'd like to see answered.

 

[jas3]

Secondly, does baptism forgive sins? Not to me

That part is from the Nicene Creed.

 

[Richard T]

That part is from the Nicene Creed.

Thanks for pointing that out. I will have to study that part much further.

 

[NewTestamentChristian]

Your own creedal construction here is interesting, but I'm not sure it is an exercise in philosophy as much as it is one in theology.

Since we're at it, though, how would we go about constructing our own literary canon of sacred scripture? Now, that would be a philosophical question I'd like to see answered.

Well, I can give a few ideas... The Old Testament, of course, should be taken into account, but focus IMO should be on the following books: Genesis, Exodus, Kings, The Prayer of Manasseh, 4 Maccabees, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, The Song of Songs, Wisdom, Isaiah, Lamentations, and Jonah. As far as the New Testament is concerned, it should be the primary source of faith. The following are my personal favorites: The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Acts, Romans, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, Hebrews, James, The Johannine epistles (1 John, 2 John, 3 John), and Jude. Personally, I also think the thought of several non-Christian thinkers should be included as supplementary literature: Heraclitus, The Platonic Dialogues, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the Enneads of Plotinus, the works of the Stoics (mainly Musonius Rufus, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius), Books from the Confucian Canon (namely the Analects and the Mencius), and Lao Tzu's Book of the Way and its Virtue. These are some of my favorites to read.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

What does that mean? "only begotten Son of God"? Begotten implies a time before begetting.

was crucified, died, and was buried, bearing the weight of my sin and despair.

What is the significance of his death for your sins? What is their relationship?

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling with mercy and justice. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; His kingdom will have no end.

Did he Ascend up into the sky? How far? Do they just sit all the time? Why the right hand?

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.

Proceeds? He/ She or it is always proceeding? What does that actually mean?

I believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, a Universal Church that is Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a sacred act that binds me to Christ’s death and resurrection.

How does baptism bind you to Christ's death and resurrection?

I look forward the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come, where meaning is fulfilled in the presence of God.

You mean resurrection of our bodies? What will they do in the world to come"?

 

[Hvizsgyak]

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, whose eternal purpose breathes meaning into the world, whose will calls me to authentic being.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Through Him all things were made, and in Him I find the ground of my being. For me and for my salvation, He entered the absurdity of human existence, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and became man, fully God and fully human. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, bearing the weight of my sin and despair. On the third day, He rose again, conquering death and revealing the hope of eternal life. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling with mercy and justice. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified. He speaks to my soul in the silence of choice, convicting, guiding, and sustaining me in the freedom and responsibility of my existence.

I believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, a Universal Church that is Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, a sacred act that binds me to Christ’s death and resurrection. I look forward the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come, where meaning is fulfilled in the presence of God.

I believe that I am created free, yet bound by sin, called to choose Christ in every moment, to wrestle with doubt, and to embrace faith as an act of courage. In my finitude, I am known by the Infinite; In my striving, I am held by grace. To God alone be glory, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

Creeds were made by those in the Church so that others would know the true Church. Back in the day, there were false teachings about what the Church believed. So the Church Fathers came up with a Creed of what is the True Church's beliefs. The Fathers of the Church wanted all to be a part of the true Church and they wanted to make sure all knew the true Church. Yours is a misguided creed because you want to include all Christians along with their own misguided and made up truths about what God's Church should believe. There are too many contradicting views held between Catholic, Orthodox and the thousands of Protestant denominations. The true Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Creeds were made by those in the Church so that others would know the true Church. Back in the day, there were false teachings about what the Church believed. So the Church Fathers came up with a Creed of what is the True Church's beliefs. The Fathers of the Church wanted all to be a part of the true Church and they wanted to make sure all knew the true Church. Yours is a misguided creed because you want to include all Christians along with their own misguided and made up truths about what God's Church should believe. There are too many contradicting views held between Catholic, Orthodox and the thousands of Protestant denominations. The true Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.

Personally, I'm all for each and every individual working through the historical complexities and complications of the Christian Faith, part of which would be that each person has to determine for themselves what the truth is and wherein it lies and the extant to which historical expressions of that Truth carry.

This means, essentially, that each person today can (and probably will if they have critical acumen) determine for themselves what the biblical Canon is and to what extent he/she can believe the Message that has been carried on via various Christianized traditions over the centuries.

Making vague citations about One Holy, Catholic, Apostolic (and/or Orthodox) Church doesn't clearly and discernibly locate or fully cite a 'true church'; being a Christian is more than simply citing one's self as aligning with some identity, a practice which is way too simplistic and all the rage today on various sides of the political spectrum. I'm not playing that game.

It's time people started waking up to this historical fact and stop blinkering and blathering about it like it's all self-evident when it isn't. Maybe then, we can be more gracious to each other because the road is hard and the way isn't clearly marked out with blinking, neon signs.

So, here's the upshot: if I adhere to the Nicene Creed in any respect, it's NOT BECAUSE I WAS TOLD TO DO SO, but because I've worked through the problems and recognize some historical or theological truth in it. Believing simply because the "church authority" said so doesn't work on me and won't be.

Frankly---------and this goes out to everyone here-----------------I'm tired of hearing about "how special" your chosen church or denomination is, and since many Christians aren't apparently interested in simple Trinitarian solidarity, I've given up on that bit of sentiment.