Sunday, February 09, 2014

the new apostles creed | what orthodox Christians have *always* believed

I've recently encountered a number of people who supported their positions by asserting they are simply affirming what orthodox Christians have always and everywhere believed. This makes me think it must be time to update the ancient creeds which somehow omitted such indespensible articles of faith. Herewith a first draft for your consideration.

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, 
Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord:

Blah

Blah

Blah

I believe in
the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic church where I'm a member;
free and unfettered markets;
exempting the wealthy from the effects of fluctuations and abuses in the free and unfettered markets;
paying white men more than anyone else for the same work;
the superiority of money over work;
a young earth, completed in 168 hours;
small government;
the war on drugs;
regulating women's access to healthcare; 
society's mandate to protect and nurture each person unless and until he is born;
the privilege of the United States to impose its will on other nations by force;
my freedom to tell others what to believe and how to behave;
the communion of saints who share my theological perspectives in whole and in part;
Blah
Blah
and the life everlasting.

Amen

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

huh, maybe you shouldnt be a member? werent these creeds to explain who Christ is? does it matter who we are if we dont know who he is...
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. this was part of the blah blah blah you left out. the rest of it was chopped out of the apostles creed. werent both of these creeds written to combat heresies against the church? holy catholic church refers to the church universal and not the church in rome. what you seem to be saying is that you would like to see more of a secular humanist type of creed?

Jim Hancock said...

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for your comment — and for the tone of your comment.

Irony is risky business. I know fairly well the parts of the the creed glossed over by the blah blah portions of my post. That omitted material expresses what people of Christian faith have explicitly affirmed, in whole or in part, from the second century on, give or take.

It's the "new" material at the bottom that interests me. How have such matters been elevated in some American subcultures to the level of essential Christian orthodoxy? How is it that some who are not particularly clear in their postions on the creeds—and the texts and communities behind the creeds—feel perfectly comfortable challenging the faith of anyone who thinks differently on the peculiar logic of, say, unregulated capital markets or a 6,000 year-old earth (or...take your pick)?

Whether you agree or disagree, does this clarify the question I'm raising?