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That doesn't really say anything about Jesus though....
The Nicene Creed is my statement of faith:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten, begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, begotten not made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried. The third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; whose Kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
I have highlighted the parts of your statement that seem to indicate an expectation of pietism.To those who simply posted an established creed, I would highly recommend writing out a creed from your heart. It's not that those older creeds are bad- they are the golden standard to which we will always return- but you can learn a lot about yourself and what you really believe by writing it out in words, even if it is just a rephrasing of the creed of the Apostles. I was asked to do so as an assignment when I was training to be a pastor at the seminary, and I have always remembered and appreciated the experience.
Thank you! I feel like I'm in Systematic Theology all over again!I have highlighted the parts of your statement that seem to indicate an expectation of pietism.
That is not the goal of such an exercise. Do you think the Scriptures and the traditions of the church discourage self-reflection? I assure you that they do not.If the historical and universal creeds are "not ... bad" why would I ever begin to think that I could do any better at creating a statement that sums up the entire teaching of Holy Scripture? I'm supposed to be able to improve on almost two millennia of faithful confession by injecting into the mix the feelings and experiences of my own personal and extremely fallible self?
It's not either/or.Oh, I forgot. Christianity is about me, about what I really believe, about my own experience. Not about faithful confession.
It is. And this paragraph, reflecting on what your faith means to you personally and how you would restate it in your own words, is exactly what I am encouraging you to do. You are not a heretic simply because you have learned the truths of Scripture well enough to cite them without reciting them! Though if I may say so, it might be more enlightening to engage in this sort of reflection out of a desire for learning and refining what you believe, rather than as a cudgel to win an argument on the internet with.Silly me. Somehow I got the distinct impression that Christianity was about Christ, about the Triune God and what he has done for me and for my salvation.
To those who simply posted an established creed, I would highly recommend writing out a creed from your heart. It's not that those older creeds are bad- they are the golden standard to which we will always return- but you can learn a lot about yourself and what you really believe by writing it out in words, even if it is just a rephrasing of the creed of the Apostles. I was asked to do so as an assignment when I was training to be a pastor at the seminary, and I have always remembered and appreciated the experience.
The opinion of someone who spent several rather intense years trying to figure out what was central to the Christian faith on her own:
I believe we can get a lot further down the road by meditating on what the creeds tell us about God than we can by trying to reinvent the wheel. And it's a whole lot less dangerous!
I have highlighted the parts of your statement that seem to indicate an expectation of pietism.
If the historical and universal creeds are "not ... bad" why would I ever begin to think that I could do any better at creating a statement that sums up the entire teaching of Holy Scripture? I'm supposed to be able to improve on almost two millennia of faithful confession by injecting into the mix the feelings and experiences of my own personal and extremely fallible self?
Not bad indeed. The three ecumenical creeds have been universally recognized by orthodox Christianity as statements of the sum and essence of pure Christian doctrine. They are not true because of who wrote them, they are true because they faithfully carry forward the truth of Holy Scripture.
Oh, I forgot. Christianity is about me, about what I really believe, about my own experience. Not about faithful confession.
Silly me. Somehow I got the distinct impression that Christianity was about Christ, about the Triune God and what he has done for me and for my salvation.
The opinion of someone who spent several rather intense years trying to figure out what was central to the Christian faith on her own:
I believe we can get a lot further down the road by meditating on what the creeds tell us about God than we can by trying to reinvent the wheel. And it's a whole lot less dangerous!
To those who simply posted an established creed, I would highly recommend writing out a creed from your heart. It's not that those older creeds are bad- they are the golden standard to which we will always return- but you can learn a lot about yourself and what you really believe by writing it out in words, even if it is just a rephrasing of the creed of the Apostles. I was asked to do so as an assignment when I was training to be a pastor at the seminary, and I have always remembered and appreciated the experience.
Universalism?-I believe in God ( Or whatever name you choose to call this Higher Power as Creator of ALL things seen and unseen )
-I believe in the Son of God Jesus Christ as the Savior of ALL men who took away ALL the sins of the world.
-I believe in the restitution of ALL things and ALL things being made new eventually by the power of God. I believe in the New Heaven and New Earth in which all things will be NEW.
-I believe it is by Grace we are saved and faith in Christ ( which God gives each man a measure of faith) not of ANY works on our part.
-I believe eternal damnation to be nothing more than a pagan myth as it has been proved to be, and this is 'hell' and torment right here on earth.
-I believe in the total and complete FINISHED WORK of Jesus Christ.
-I believe that by one man sin entered ALL men and by one man ALL sin has been paid for.
-1 Corinthians 15:22-For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Sorry for the sarcasm. I forgot how to do litotes. (No really, I am sorry.)Apart from your sarcasm, you make an honest point from the perspective of the uncreative. And, in my honest opinion, it is quite alright to pursue Jesus in an uncreative way.
However, what your sarcasm demonstrates is your unwillingness to open your heart to the possibility of your brothers and sisters allowing their creativity to come alive in their heartfelt worship of their Savior by experimenting with their own creative thoughts on who God is and what they believe.
Is creativity somehow a perversion to you? If not, then why the sarcasm regarding it. I mean, if you don't want to participate in the exercise, that's entirely okay, but why come here and snap sarcastically at DailyBlessings as if to indicate he is doing something inappropriate? I just don't understand why you, or anyone else, would do that.
I do understand what you are worried about. It is very true that a lot of things that go on in the church these days seem to be very egocentric. Not just egocentric but subtly cynical at the same time, in fact, which can be a horrifying combination because it directs the eyes inward at the same time that it veils them outward. We must be wary of this, and call out to God to keep our eyes fixed neither on ourselves nor the world to exclusion.Sorry for the sarcasm. I forgot how to do litotes. (No really, I am sorry.)
What bothers me very much about this kind of thing is that it is so incredibly "me"-centered. What do I really believe? How can I express it in my own words? How can I engage my creativity to communicate how I feel about what I believe?
This kind of subjectivity and self-orientation is exactly what is wrong with the Church in general today, and American Pop Evangelicalism in particular.
When you step back a look at it objectively, it's easy to see that its just mysticism, pure and simple. It isn't an exercise in writing a summary of what Christian doctrine actually is, it's an exercise of writing what Christianity mean to me.
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