One argument that is frequently put forth is that Christianity at the core focuses on the "main and plain" doctrines (doctrine = "something taught"). Doctrines can be expressed in creeds, or summary statements of a belief that can quickly allows someone to distinguish between Christianity and other belief systems. The Bible itself contains creeds, such as found in Romans 10:9:
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"
One of the earliest creeds is the Apostles' Creed, dated to the 2nd century A.D. -
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Reading the creed, you can get a sense of both affirmations and denials. For example, in the creed we affirm the resurrection of the body, and therefore deny that the life beyond death takes place in a disembodied spirit.
Another significant creed is the Nicene Creed, dated at 325 A.D. Similar to the Apostles' Creed, it codifies Christian belief and focuses on the person of Jesus as a defense against a growing heresy (teachings hostile to a belief) called Arianism. You may remember the Nicene Creed from references in Dan Brown's book the Da Vinci Code. The book is a taught thriller (I read it in 2 days!) but historically a train wreck. That's OK if an author takes liberties with history but acknowledges as much, but Brown purports his book to be historically factual.
Why do I bring this up? Because creeds express explicit affirmations and implict denials, they are subject to attack. And that's OK! We must ask the question, if we cannot defend what we believe, why would we believe it?
Many churches today express their beliefs in creedal statements, often a variation of the Apostles' and Nicence Creeds, or derived from the Bible without deviance from the creeds. I'm not sure why, but Eastpoint Church popped into my head as I was writing. Take a look at the creed, or belief statement; from Eastpoint Church here. It seemed logical to me to then Google for a west point church! Sure enough, you can read Westpoint Fellowship Church's creed at this page. Let's continue Googling: of course there is a North Point church and their creed is short enough to copy and paste here:
Many churches today express their beliefs in creedal statements, often a variation of the Apostles' and Nicence Creeds, or derived from the Bible without deviance from the creeds. I'm not sure why, but Eastpoint Church popped into my head as I was writing. Take a look at the creed, or belief statement; from Eastpoint Church here. It seemed logical to me to then Google for a west point church! Sure enough, you can read Westpoint Fellowship Church's creed at this page. Let's continue Googling: of course there is a North Point church and their creed is short enough to copy and paste here:
We believe in one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That Jesus Christ the Savior for all men and women who put their faith in Him alone for eternal life. We believe that those who receive this new life in Christ are called to be holy in character and conduct, and can only live this way by being filled with the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Bible and seek to establish our faith and actions on its teachings. We believe God's will for people everywhere is to know Him and that the purpose of the church is to tell the world about Christ through its worship, witness, and loving deeds.
Last but not least in doing our due diligence one would think we would fine a South Point church, and not to be denied...we did! Over at SouthPoint Foursquare Church we find these creedal statements.
It looks like to the four corners of the globe, well at least the United States we find creeds that have a little grammatical and organizational variance, but would square up with the Apostles' and Nicene creeds. the question then on the table is this: if Christianity is a monolithic religion with a core that can be identified through the Bible and creedal statements that become essential beliefs, how do we account for the differences among us? That will be the topic of the next post on this subject!
