Christian Relaunch

Christian Beliefs that our Creed Omits

Some Christians would say that our creed omits some key beliefs. Here I explain why none of them is essential to a basic understanding of the Gospel message and its contemporary implications.

Some would say: "You should mention Christ's Virgin Birth."

See Vid's Blog for 2022-04-24 on "FIEC Item 4A".

That blogpost argues that this belief is not key, and therefore should not be in a list of key beliefs such as the FIEC "Basis of Faith" or the Christian Relaunch Creed. It does not discuss (and I am not opining here) whether it is true, which is just one among hundreds of "Did that literally happen just like that?" questions and tends to distract attention from the more important "key" question.

Some would say, "You should mention Christ's medical work, the manner of his death etc."

Our Creed says naught about specific events, even those involving the Christ. It asserts that God became a man, was killed and is alive, but says naught about when and where, what his parents or companions called him, or any other specifics. As it happens I share the usual view that it was about 30 CE in the Levant, that he was called something like "Yeshuah", that he died on a stauros, and that he was dead for less than three days, but any of these details could turn out to be errors without affecting the Stance on which we unite.

Some would say: "You should mention that Christ ascended into Heaven and will return to Earth from there."

See The Ascension.

Pentecostals and Charismatics would say: "You should mention miracles."

See Miracles.

Sacramentalists would say: "You should mention the Church."

See "Church".

Ceremonialists would say: "You should mention worship."

That depends on what you mean by "worship".

If you mean the service of God as a whole, our whole Creed is about it.

If you mean call reverence, one of the modes of serving God, I agree that in a sense this is the "highest" mode, but it is still only one among others, all of them equally needed for human ripening.

See Ceremonies if you mean ceremonies of reverence.

Otherworldalists would say: "You should mention spirituality."

"My kingdom is not of this world."

"The kingdom of God is within you."

Both quotations are mistranslations of Christ's words. He actually said "My reign is not from this world [but from God]" and "The majesty of God is among you [in my person]". And once those two chestnuts have been roasted, the cupboard is bare.

Most keen Christians destroy the coherence of reverical activities with other activities by elevating them to a world of their own and calling them "spiritual". In the earliest Christian writers, pneumatikos ("spiritual") refers to the God-serving approach to life as a whole.