WHAT WE BELIEVE
The
Creeds of Christendom the book by Philip Schaff
(Under construction by Christian Classics Ethereal Library) |
Free Christians is an ever-progressing experience on a journey with God. In such an exciting journey the traditional Christian practice of forming "final" statements of faith becomes unnecessary. Rather than draw a statement of faith, it is better to express an attitude of faith, an attitude that is not afraid to embrace change, even radical change, when called to do so by the leading of the Spirit of Life.
Speaking of the Spirit of Life (the Spirit expressed by Jesus), the great New England scholar Theodore Parker ( 1810 - 1860) said the following:
"That spirit is absolute, pure morality; absolute pure religion, - the love of man; the love of God acting without let or hindrance. The only creed it lays down is the great truth which springs up spontaneous in the holy heart, - there is a God. Its watchword is, Be perfect as your Father in heaven. The only form it demands is a divine life, - doing the best thing in the best way, from the highest motives; perfect obedience to the great law of God. Its sanction is the voice of God in your heart; the perpetual presence of him who made us Examine the particular duties it enjoins, - humility, reverence, sobriety, gentleness, charity, forgiveness, fortitude, resignation, faith, and active love summed up in the command, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself' The end seems to be to make all men one with God It allows perfect freedom. It does not demand all men to think alike, but to think uprightly not all men to live alike, but to live holy"
FreeChristians tend not to have any creeds or belief statements. Instead, we place more importance in having a healthy attitude about God, spirituality and religion. We believe that creeds are O.K but not to be taken literally or seen as absolutes. This is what retired Bishop John Shelby Spong has to say about creeds:
"All creeds are simply statements of what people in a particular age believe about their religious system at that time in human history. A creed inevitably makes the assumptions of the age in which it was formulated... Creeds are "Hymns of Love" sung to the God in whom we believe. The words are never to be literalized. They are to be entered... Someday, when that is understood, the Christian Church will rewrite the creeds but that rewritten version will, in time, also become misleading and irrelevant. That is the fate of all human written material. Creeds are designed to lead us beyond their words to the God experience they seek to articulate. If you treat them that way, they are aids to worship. If you literalize them or turn them into faith texts for orthodoxy, they become destructive..." (Bishop Spong Q&A on creeds)
Ah, and one more thing. FreeChristians are proud to be Universalists. Without any specific "creeds" on the how's and when's we believe that God will eventually free all human beings -past, present and future- from death & corruption, so that "God will be all in all". Universalism is kind of a "minority report" within the troubled history of Christianity. Regardless of official Church dogmas, some of the greatest Christian minds have been Universalists. In this respect, modern day Christian Universalists are in good company...
Some Historical Creeds
The Chalcedonian Creed A.D. 451
Waldensian Confessions of Faith, circa 1120
Luther's 95 Theses A.D. 1517
Augsburg Confession A.D. 1530
Waldensian Confession of Faith A.D. 1544
See also: Creeds of Christendom "A good collection of creedal and confessional documents from a wide range of groups..."
Universalist Statements of Faith by Church Fathers
St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215): "We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer: to redeem, to rescue, to discipline, in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life" and: "All men are his...for either the Lord does not care for all men...or he does care for all. For He is saviour; not of some, and of others not...and how is He saviour and Lord, if not the saviour and Lord of all? For all things are arranged with a view to the salvation of the universe by the Lord of the universe both generally and particularly"
Origen (3rd Century) "one of the greatest of Christian minds": "our belief is, that the Word shall prevail over the entire rational creation, and change every soul into his own perfection...for although in the diseases and wounds of the body, there are some which no medical skill can cure, yet we hold that in the mind there is no evil so strong that it may not be overcome by the Supreme Word and God. For stronger than all the evils in the soul is the Word, and the healing power that swells in Him, and the healing He applies, according to the will of God to every man. The consummation of all things is the destruction of evil"
St. Gregory of Nyssa (332-398), bishop and leading theologian: "Our Lord is the One who delivers humanity, and who heals the inventor of evil himself."
Titus, bishop of Bostra: "Abyss of hell is, indeed, the place of torment; but it is not eternal, nor did it exist in the original constitution of nature. It was made afterward, as a remedy for sinners, that it might cure them. And the punishments are holy, as they are remedial and salutary in their effect on transgressors; for they are inflicted not to preserve them in their wickedness but to make them cease from their wickedness. The anguish of their suffering compels them to break off their vices"
Diodore (c. 390), bishop of Tarsus and bishop of Jerusalem: "For the wicked are punished, not perpetual, but they are to be tormented for a certain brief period...according to the amount of malice in their works. They shall therefore suffer punishment for a short space, but immortal blessedness, having no end awaits them. The resurrection, therefore is regarded as a blessing not only to the good but also to the evil."
Theodore of Mopsuestia (4th Century), president of theological school of Antioch: "That in the world to come, those who have done evil all their life long, will be made worthy of the sweetness of the divine bounty. For never would Christ have said, 'Until thou has paid the uttermost farthing' unless it were possible for us to be cleansed when we have paid the debt"
(source: Early Christian View of the Savior, by Gary Amirault)
See also: Universalism in the First Five Hundred Years of the Christian Church
Liberal Christianity "Statements of Faith"
"The God we worship is a God of love (1 JOHN:4). This Divine Spirit will always guide us into "paths of righteousness" -- into lives of caring for, service to, and reconciliation with our fellow human beings -- if only we will open ourselves to Divine direction and follow where that leads. This God tells "what is good, and that is to do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8). The living Christ, our Teacher, tells us "to love our enemies" (Mt 5:44)." ( A Statement from Leaders of Friends (Quakers) Organizations in the U.S Regarding the War in Iraq, March 20, 2003)
5 Basic Principles
1. God is all good and active in everything, everywhere.
2. I am naturally good because God's Divinity is in me and in everyone.
3. I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe.
4. Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life.
5. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know. I make a difference!
(The Association of Unity Churches)
21st Century: A Statement of Commitment by The United Church of Christ
Universalist Creeds
Historic and Universalist Professions of Faith
The Five Principles of Faith (1899)
We believe:
1. That God the Creator loves and cares for each individual with a Parent's love.
2. In the spiritual authority and leadership of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
3. In the trustworthiness of the Bible as containing a revelation from God.
4. In the certainty of just retribution for sin.
5. In the final harmony of all souls with God.
The Essential Principles of Christian Universalism - A statement embracing the essential principles held in common by the Universalist ministers generally. Prepared in 1878 by a group of Universalist ministers in Boston, (which included A.A. Miner, T. J. Sawyer, C. R. Moor, O. F. Safford, and A. St. John Chambre, and others).
What is Universalism? - An 1860's tract published by the Universalist Sunday School Union of Philadelphia.
The Winchester Profession of 1803
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God, and of the duty, interest and final destination, of mankind.
We believe there is one God, whose nature is love; revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.
We believe that holiness and true happiness are inseparably connected; and that believers ought to maintain order, and practice good works, for these things are good and profitable unto men. v
The Five Principles of Faith (1899)
1. The Universal Fatherhood of God
2. The spiritual authority and leadership
of His Son Jesus Christ
3. The trustworthiness of the Bible as
containing a revelation from God
4. The certainty of just retribution for sin
5. The final harmony of all souls with God
An Affirmation of Faith (1903)
"We believe in God, the Father Almighty and Universal; and in Jesus Christ his Son, the true teacher, example, and Savior of the world.We believe in the Holy Spirit, the quickener and comforter of men.
We believe in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as a revelation of righteousness, truth and love.
We believe in the Holy Church Universal;
in the communion of saints;
in the certainty of punishment for transgression;
in the forgiveness of sins;
in the life immortal;
in the final triumph of goodness and mercy;
and in the union and harmony, at last, of all souls with God."
"Christian Universalism", in its simple and proper theological sense, is the doctrine of universal salvation; or in other words, of the final holiness and happiness of all mankind, to be effected by the grace of God, through the ministry of his Son, Jesus Christ.
"The glory of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ, as manifested in the final holiness and happiness of all men, is the central sun of Universalism."
-- Thomas Whittemore, 1840
"In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist, one (Ephesus) accepted conditional immortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked. Other theological schools are mentioned as founded by Universalists, but their actual doctrine on this subject is not known."
"The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge"
by Schaff-Herzog, 1908, volume 12, page 96
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