A Statement of Faith
by Stephen Bastin
A reader responded to our last
mailing with a question, “Do you have a statement of faith that you could mail
to us?”
The simple answer is,
“No.” But that raises an
additional question, “Why?” Let
me explain.
There are many statements of
faith that circulate in the Christian community.
One might begin with the letter that was composed in the Jerusalem
conference described in the 15th chapter of Acts in the New Testament.
That letter was written in
response to a specific problem that had arisen in the church at Antioch.
Messengers had been dispatched to Jerusalem (the source of the
difficulties in Antioch) to find out what was being taught by the apostles and
the church in Jerusalem. The letter
that was a “statement of faith” did not reveal everything believed by the
Christians in Jerusalem. It only revealed what they believed on the matter
brought before them.
The same might be said for
every other statement of faith that has been produced since then.
They are statements written to address some particular need or problem
and they are silent on many other matters that are equally important, but not in
conflict at the moment.
There is another difference
between the statements of faith that have been written since the conference in
Jerusalem and the letter found in Acts 15. They
are statements put together by men who are prone to make mistakes.
They are not written by inspired men.
They are just men who are trying to solve a problem by putting in writing
what they think is right. In other
words, all the statements of faith produced since the first century simply
represent the opinions of uninspired men.
Their statements of faith are
not a part of the Word of God. The
writers are not apostles chosen by Jesus. Opinions
are expressed in those statements of faith, but they should never be considered
as binding on anyone. They have been
considered binding. And people have
been excommunicated for disagreeing with those statements of faith!
What a travesty on the
Christian religion. What a shame
that men who do not have a “corner on truth” put themselves in the position
of deciding what everyone else must believe!
If their statements of faith
are right, they are right because they reflect what is taught in God’s Word,
the Bible. If they are simply a
reflection of what is in the Bible they are unnecessary.
The truth is that they exist because they state things that cannot be
proven by a fair understanding of what is in the Bible.
They are opinions.
Now, there is nothing wrong
with opinions. Everybody has
opinions. There are your opinions
and there are mine. But statements
of faith purport to be more than just opinions.
They are put forth as statements of truth.
That they are not. I am
content to let the Bible stand as God’s statement of faith and what I write,
you may accept or reject based on whether you think it represents what is in the
Bible.
Sometimes the approach that
certain people take to understanding the Bible reminds me of the lady with a
size 10 foot trying to fit her foot into a size five shoe.
Maybe with the proper equipment it can be done, but not without a great
deal of pain and grief in the process. And
it will never be a comfortable fit!
Some of the more popular statements of faith are:
The Apostles’ Creed (not written by the apostles, did not exist until
at least the second century), the Nicene Creed
Consider these words from the
Nicene creed: “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 only-begotten Son of God.” Those
statements are easily verified from the Bible as in Genesis 1, Hebrews 11 and in
John 3.
Next there is the statement:
“Begotten of his Father before all worlds.”
This is probably true, but more difficult to establish from scripture.
In 1 Peter 1:20 Jesus was “foreknown before the foundation of the
world.” (World is singular not
plural) There is no statement in
scripture as to “when” Jesus was “begotten of
his Father.” A possible
exception is in Acts 14:33 where Paul quotes from Psalm 2:7 and applies it to
the resurrection of Jesus. In other
words, it would appear that Paul refers to the resurrection as the moment when
God “begot” Jesus.
Then the Nicene Creed says:
“God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father.” One
can only shake one’s head and say, “Where did THAT come from?”
It certainly did not come from scripture.
The answer is that it probably came from pagan philosophy or worse.
The question then is, “Why should a Christian be required to agree with
that?”
Another system of doctrine
that has been widely taught, though not so popular now as it was a hundred years
ago, is the system derived from Augustine and expanded and further refined by
John Calvin.
It was made popular some years
ago by the acronym TULIP. The T was
for “total hereditary depravity,” the U was for “unconditional
election,” the L was for “limited atonement,” the I was for
“irresistible grace” and the P was for “perseverance
of the saints.”
As a system for explaining the
Bible it is interesting that each of the five points themselves must be
explained. Not only that, but the
explanations themselves differ from one person to another.
Sound confusing? You will
find the Bible easier to understand.
People much smarter than I
have tried to devise statements of faith that would stand the test of
examination by the “experts.” All
have failed to come up with the right words that everyone could accept as
scriptural.
Perhaps it has been because no
one is willing to just stick with the Bible.
The definitions have to be more precise, the explanations more complete.
Things that were not believed
for hundreds of years after Jesus have become acceptable teachings today.
Things that are as foreign to the Bible as killing one’s enemies and
putting out of the church everyone who does not hold the opinion of the leaders
are common now.
We ought to go back to the
Bible. It alone is the Word of God.
We ought to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is
silent. We ought to call Bible
things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways.
In matters revealed by scripture there ought to be unity.
In matters upon which the Bible is silent we ought to be charitable in
allowing others to have opinions that differ from ours.
I have no statement of faith.
If you ask me what I believe on any particular subject I will be glad to
tell you. I will also share with you
from the scriptures why I believe as I do. I
will also give you the opportunity to tell me why you differ and I will listen
as you explain from scripture why you think that I am wrong.
Will you study the Bible with
me?