What We Believe?
Disclaimer
We're Christians, lovers of God, followers of Jesus, imitators of Christ … you get the idea. While we adhere to historic orthodox Christianity, we are not Orthodox, or Catholic, or affiliated with any denomination. We pretend that our beliefs, and what we believe others need to believe, are the pure essentials of the faith. Having said that, we know we're trapped in our Western, over-educated, and privileged mindset. We trust that God will refine our theology as we live and serve among the poor.
Mystery
Our faith is content to live with mystery. Though we seek to understand what we can through the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the use of logic, we accept that there are things about God that we cannot comprehend. The origin of faith, nature of Trinity, and an accurate measure of the glory and depravity of humanity all escape us. We stand in the tradition of Martin Luther who spoke of the three miracles of the incarnation. "The first, that God became man; the second that a virgin was a mother; and the third, that the heart of a man should believe this."
An Affirmation
We tried writing a concise statement of our theology but failed miserably because the words of the Apostle's Creed kept coming to mind. This creed, which is over 17 centuries old, summarizes our beliefs about God and anchors us solidly in our historic Christian faith.
We believe in God, the Father Almighty
creator of heaven and earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.
We 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.
Additions
While our faith begins with the nature of God, it includes much about humanity that is not included in the Apostle's Creed. Some additional theological convictions that govern our thinking and actions are:- All people are created in the image of God and have inherent, inestimable worth and dignity.
- All people have profoundly defiled the image of God in them and have absolutely no hope of eternal life with God outside of trusting in the grace and mercy of God made available through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Persons saved from eternal damnation will demonstrate evidence of a soul transformed by the grace and mercy of God. Since God desires that Christians become more like his Son, they will begin to live life as Jesus did.
- Jesus and the apostles proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom of God through words, works, and wonders. As the body of Christ, and a sign of that Kingdom, the church is to continue this three faceted proclamation. The church is to imitate Jesus who said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Details
If you're really into this stuff and want to read our complete statement of faith, click here for a PDF version. Please note that this statement follows categories we were given to think through in seminary; it does not necessarily reflect what we believe to be the most important aspects of theology. It is somewhat long and wordy so if you download it and read through the whole thing, let us know … we might give you a lollipop or something. =P