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Is this weird?

Proeliator

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This is the statement of faith from a RCA church down the street. Please let me know your thoughts on it:

http://www.trinityqueens.org/Our Beliefs.htm

Trinity forms part of the Reformed Church in America denomination, or RCA for short.

We in the Reformed Church in America believe God created humans perfect and free to make choices. They chose to disobey their Creator. Turning away from God, humanity fell into sin. All of the suffering and evil in the world is because of this sin.

Even though we have turned away from God, God still loves all people and wants our lives to be full of joy and peace. Right from the beginning, God had a plan to make this happen.

God's plan was to send Jesus, who lived a life of perfect obedience to God and who died to pay the price for all people's sins. God raised Jesus back to life. He is in heaven now, but he has promised to return to earth someday. When he comes again, he will resurrect all believers and take them to be with him in heaven.

Believers are people who accept that Jesus Christ is God's Son, who believe that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead, and who do their best to follow his teachings and example. Together they form the church, which is called Christ's body on earth, and which has a responsibility to continue Christ's work.

Living the Christian life is not always easy, but believers receive guidance from the Bible and from the teachings and example of Christ; and they receive encouragement and power from God's Holy Spirit.

The Reformed Church in America accepts three confessional statements as expressions of its basic beliefs:

The Heidelberg Catechism. Formulated during the Reformation, and still important as a teaching tool in many churches, it has had by far the most formative influence on the life of the Reformed Church.

The Belgic Confession. Written in the sixteenth century by Guido de Bres, a pastor and itinerant preacher in southern Netherlands, it was intended to persuade Philip II of Spain that Reformed people did not hold heretical views. De Bres hoped to convince the king to stop persecuting the Protestants; he himself became a martyr for his faith in 1567.

The Canons of Dort were formulated in 1618 to resolve a dispute among Dutch theological professors on the issue of divine sovereignty in the work of salvation.

The Reformed Church also affirms three creeds that arose in the early church, the Apostles' Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Nicene Creed.

In 1978 the Reformed Church approved Our Song of Hope as a contemporary statement of faith in its ministry of witness, teaching, and worship.

From time to time the Reformed Church in America encourages its congregations and assemblies to study confessional statements written by ecumenical partner churches throughout the world. At its 2001 General Synod the Reformed Church placed the Belhar Confession (Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa) in this category.

In the Reformed tradition, creeds are subject to evaluation in the light of Scriptures. They are always subordinate to the final authority of Christ.
 

lmnop9876

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7. The Holy Spirit speaks through the Church,
. . . .. . . .measuring its words by the canonical Scriptures.
. . . .The Spirit has spoken in the ancient creeds,
. . . .. . . .and in the confessions of the Reformation.
. . . .The world is called to bear witness to Christ
. . . .. . . .in faithfulness to the Scriptures,
. . . .. . . .in harmony with the church of the ages,
. . . .. . . .and in unity with all Christ's people.
btw, if this is what Sola Scriptura is, I think I agree with it.
 
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Proeliator

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shadrach_ said:
God's plan was to send Jesus, who lived a life of perfect obedience to God and who died to pay the price for all people's sins.

Sorry, I guess I should have highlighted the part I found strange. How can a church that subscribes to those confessions, include universal atonement in their statment of faith?
 
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Imblessed

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shadrach_ said:
Sorry, I guess I should have highlighted the part I found strange. How can a church that subscribes to those confessions, include universal atonement in their statment of faith?

It sounds to me like they were speaking to the "lowest common denominator" so to speak.....

The whole thing looks to be written for a person who doesn't know anything about theology, or christianity. It's very simple and 'non-threatening'.
 
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Jon_

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shadrach_ said:
God's plan was to send Jesus, who lived a life of perfect obedience to God and who died to pay the price for all people's sins.

Believers are people who accept that Jesus Christ is God's Son. . . .
These two things right here send the red flags up. Jesus did not die for all people's sins. No one "accepts" Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon
 
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pinkieposies

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God's plan was to send Jesus, who lived a life of perfect obedience to God and who died to pay the price for all people's sins.

Believers are people who accept that Jesus Christ is God's Son. . . .


I also had red flags go off in my head when I read that. The whole thing kind of seemed a little weird to me.

HiredGoon said:
The RCA is generally considered "liberal" much like the PC(USA).


My church is a member of the RCUS {The Reformed Church of the United States ;) }. I don't know much about the RCA, I have heard they are different, but I didn't know that they were considered liberal... don't they allow women elders and ministers and such?

.:Erin:.

 
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lmnop9876

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Sorry, I guess I should have highlighted the part I found strange. How can a church that subscribes to those confessions, include universal atonement in their statment of faith?
it's not necessarily universal atonement. if when the Bible says "all", "all men," "the world", &c. it's not universal, then why does this imply universal atonement?
These two things right here send the red flags up. Jesus did not die for all people's sins. No one "accepts" Christ.
1. depends how you define "all". 2.
Believers are people who accept that Jesus Christ is God's Son, who believe that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead, and who do their best to follow his teachings and example. Together they form the church, which is called Christ's body on earth, and which has a responsibility to continue Christ's work.
nothing wrong with that as far as I can tell. Christians accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Acts 8:37), believe that He died for their sins (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4), and rose again for their justification (Romans 4:25), and who do their best to follow His teachings and examples and lead a Christian life. perhaps the only thing wrong with it is the last clause, it should have something like, "with God's help," or "by God's grace," on the last line. but the same thing is said later on, encouragement and help from the Holy Spirit.
"Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered to us in the Gospel." (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 86).
Doesn't sound Reformed to me.
They start right off with free will.
Bait & switch.
what's wrong with this statement? it's perfectly true according to the westminster shorter catechism. "Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God." (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 13)
We in the Reformed Church in America believe God created humans perfect and free to make choices. They chose to disobey their Creator. Turning away from God, humanity fell into sin. All of the suffering and evil in the world is because of this sin.
sounds alright to me, nothing "un-Reformed" about it.
 
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Bob Moore

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7. The Holy Spirit speaks through the Church,
. . . .. . . .measuring its words by the canonical Scriptures.
. . . .The Spirit has spoken in the ancient creeds,
. . . .. . . .and in the confessions of the Reformation.
. . . .The world is called to bear witness to Christ
. . . .. . . .in faithfulness to the Scriptures,
. . . .. . . .in harmony with the church of the ages,
. . . .. . . .and in unity with all Christ's people.


pjw said:
btw, if this is what Sola Scriptura is, I think I agree with it.

But it isn't. Sola Scriptura is the position that the Bible, and only the Bible, has authority to bind the conscience. That excludes all, without exception, confessions of faith because confessions can be, however slightly, incorrect while the Bible is never, ever, incorrect. The above statement contains this: "in harmony with the church of the ages,". That is a problem because the church (or what claims to be the church) has frequently been out of harmony with the word.
 
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Bob Moore

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shadrach_ said:
Sorry, I guess I should have highlighted the part I found strange. How can a church that subscribes to those confessions, include universal atonement in their statment of faith?

Yes, That is interesting. Perhaps they do not distinguish between sufficient and efficient.
 
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Knight

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Jon_ said:
These two things right here send the red flags up. Jesus did not die for all people's sins. No one "accepts" Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

Wrong question. Believers do accept Christ.

The right question to ask is what (who) made them believers?
 
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Jon_

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Knight said:
Wrong question. Believers do accept Christ.

The right question to ask is what (who) made them believers?
I wasn't aware that I posed a question, but in any case, the "accept" that they use is not the "accept" the Bible uses, which is why I put "accept" in quotation marks in my original post.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon
 
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cygnusx1

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Jon_ said:
These two things right here send the red flags up. Jesus did not die for all people's sins. No one "accepts" Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria

Jon

If "all peoples" is all races , then yes it is Biblical and Reformed.

But if "all people" is all without exception then no........

perhaps they were being ambiguous on purpose ?
 
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Knight

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Jon_ said:
I wasn't aware that I posed a question,

You didn't... I did. (Just a figure of speech)

but in any case, the "accept" that they use is not the "accept" the Bible uses, which is why I put "accept" in quotation marks in my original post.

I know. I was merely offering a response to such a statement.
 
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