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Christian Doctrine: I Did Not Make It, It Is Making Me
“Do you see my bookshelves over there?” All heads would turn toward the thousands of books surrounding them in my classroom. “Do you think that’s real wood?” I would offer. “It feels like vinyl,” one would say, hands close enough to touch. “But it looks like real wood!” another would say.
I would then show them the back edge of an extra shelf; exposed particle board greeted their gaze. “Now the advertisement says,” I continued, “I can pick from cherry or walnut grains. But in all honesty, I’m simply buying a thin veneer of plastic, covering pressed wood.” My bookshelf illustration was about to bring home the truth. “This is exactly what false teaching is like,” I concluded, “It looks right, at first glance, but upon further inspection, it is shown to be wrong. Heresy depends on attracting our attention, then leading us astray.”
The word “heresy” comes from the Greek word meaning “to choose.” Any move toward heresy, toward falsehood, is choosing to step away from biblical teaching. As Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” And there is the issue. What we believe, creates how we live. I think the Christian singer Rich Mullins said it best:
And I believe what I believe, is what makes me what I am / I did not make it, no it is making me / It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.
God’s truth is no veneer, no human invention. Yes, my bookshelves are still fake wood. But Christian Truth, the teaching of Scripture, makes us who we are, helping us keep a close watch on our life and doctrine. We embody God’s Truth for all to see.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally allowing God’s Truth to make me what I am.
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Published in Religion & Philosophy
Enjoyed your post. Lordy, how I miss Rich Mullins.
Any Christians come to mind who wouldn’t accept the Nicene Creed?
Yeah, I’d say the Nicene Creed is kind of like those signs with a line across in front of carnival rides: “You have to be this tall for this ride.”
Yes, we agree.
Original Calvinism believed in the five point TULIP, of which I think double pre-destination was at the heart. In time that belief has eroded, especially after the several Great Awakenings. Protestant Jacob Arminius was in complete disagreement with Calvin (and I believed fought battles over it) and formed his own denomination. In time it seems that free will has won out in most Protestant denominations.
We can go back and forth. I wasn’t interested in that. But since you bring it up, I can quote John 20:21-23:
“Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
I can also quote St. Paul who says “if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.” And further down: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” (1Cor 1-13)
Are you saying that Protestants don’t believe you need love for salvation? Anyway, it’s complicated. Yes, faith is a prerequisite for justification.
This all shows that heresy is so easy to find between Christians, which is my original point.
See I told you Flicker! I replied before I saw this.
Obviously Unitarians and those that don’t profess in the Trinity, but I could swear there was some mainline Protestant denomination that did not. But I can’t seem to find it. So maybe not.
Unitarians are a different religion.
Check some of the Pentecostal groups.
But if they don’t accept the Trinity, I wouldn’t call them Christians either.
Of course, that’s partly because I’m just using the Nicene Creed as my answer. But that’s ok, because it’s the right answer.
And there are other answers available that I think tend to coincide. Ask me later. Class is coming up. My list of things to do is a real jerk today.
Back to heresies. It’s way more complicated than just saying you believe in Jesus Christ. As I pointed out, and we agree, Islam and Church of Latter Day Saints, would fall into heresies, and I think we agree on Unitarians as well. And that’s because of their understanding of the nature of Christ. But most of the official heresies deal with the nature of Christ. Here’s a list of just some: Adoptionism, Apollinarism, Arianism, Collyridianism, Docetism, Monarchianism, and so on. You can read about them and see the complete list here.
I always use the Nicene Creed in the past as the definition of Christianity too. It just is.
Oh, I never do it in the past.
My time machine broke.
Yikes, my syntax was terrible there. I meant to say that in the past I have used the Nicene Creed as thee definition of Christianity.
That depends on how tight they want the language to be. But I’ll stand by it. The works being evidence of faith. We all will be either not judged because we’re written in the Book of Life, or or we will be judged and most likely condemned by our works when “the books of their works” are opened.
You mean if you were ever taught it, right? What about people who hear for the first time and convert on their death beds.
Exactly. The intent is everything. If you are doing it to work yourself to heaven, that is works righteousness. If you are doing it out of faith in Christ because as we see all over the New Testament (especially Matt 25) He is commanding you to do it, then you are obeying Christ and have faith is His divinity.
I noticed that. I have no further comment. I stand by what I wrote. :)
Speaking of LDS, are you sure that not one single life-long member ever is saved? I really take seriously, Condemn not and you will not be condemned.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
If doctrinal purity is a cause to be condemned one had better be at least the only one in the world who’s right.
Thee? As in “to Thee?”
Does faltering obedience count for naught?
See Michael Witmer stuff above.
Thank you!
Jerry, I appreciate what you said. And I’ve been thinking about it, and I don’t want to give the impression that God definitely acts on one way or another.
Nonetheless, a few Scripture verses come to mind.
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
and
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
It becomes a question of conscience. If the Holy Spirit leads you, or encourages you, or works in you to seek Him, and there is no one around to help you understand, how might God react.
Well, perhaps God declares Himself and can be comprehended on some other wordless level:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
No one at all seeks God unless God draws him. I don’t know who is called, or how God draws him, or what condition of the heart God works in a man’s heart. And I cannot say that God only accepts only certain words or a minimum of concrete knowledge in every circumstance and situation.
Certainly no one is saved except for the blood of Christ, but how that blood is applied, and on whom, in any and all circumstances is I think God’s place to determine.
Doctrine is vital to the maturity of a Christian . However, it can be a stumbling stone also. Our human nature always wants to drift toward works salvation . Correct doctrine can be used in this manner.
Faith is simple. The thief on the cross is a the best example. He just believed.
Even a child can understand.
1 Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong;
they are weak, but he is strong.
Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.
2 Jesus loves me he who died
heaven’s gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin,
let his little child come in. [Refrain]
3 Jesus loves me, this I know,
as he loved so long ago,
taking children on his knee,
saying, “Let them come to me.” [Refrain]
If the Lord leaves remembrance of those who wont be in His Kingdom. I believe we all will be surprised at who is there and who is not.
Good question. I’m going to speak personally as to what I think and it does not represent any church or doctrine. I have a wide view of salvation. I do not believe God judges one on knowing doctrine but adherence to love of God and love of neighbor as Christ says are the two great commandments. If God is love (as declared in the epistles of John) I think He will take into account a lot of context on a person’s understanding of God. Faith then is one’s reliance on that love, which in turn is I think an implied belief in God. I do think that outright atheists have a problem since they are willfully denying God. But ultimately God can do all things. Again this is my personal view.
Thee as emphatic form for “the.”
I’m not exactly sure what you mean. We all human and fail to live up to perfection.
I hear that example all the time but I think it’s flawed. The thief is pinned to a cross and can do nothing in his dying moments. If he were allowed to go free he would be then free to potentially sin, and subsequently choose to not be obedient and not feed the hungry, not clothe the naked, etc (Matt 25:31-46). The thief’s situation on the cross dictates the moral choices that come before him.
So, if it is flawed the thief is rotting in hell and Christ lied. I know you don’t believe that , just addressing your flawed statement.
As for going his merry way and sinning. Well , welcome to the humane predicament , this is what we all do as well as being obedient.
The example stands. That’s why it was included in the text.
And no, I don’t stand on simple believe ism . But we have the example. God looks into the heart and he is the judge. This is why I made the comment about all of us being surprised in eternity.
The OP speaks of truth based on scripture. Scripture is the measuring line. You can use it to measure everything else, but all those other things need to fit all of the applicable scripture. If it fits one place, but not another, it doesn’t fit. Some will not believe this next statement, but there are no contradictions in scripture; only misunderstanding or mystery. It’s easy to read things that are not there.
Belief is a personal thing. No matter what I say to someone else or what they say to me, we will each only believe what we will believe. The conversation may plant a seed though and tiny seeds are known to split mighty boulders. And we want those seeds. They break up the boulders in our respective paths.
I can offer a Catholic view, but as I view the world through a Catholic lens any errors are mine and not the Church.
If someone is not a Catholic then heretic does not apply to a non-Catholic, although their beliefs may be heretical for a Catholic to believe.
This brings me to baptisms for those who convert to Catholicism:
So any Protestant that was baptized using this formula does not need to be rebaptized. There is an exception:
Agreed. This is why it is a terrible idea to build doctrine on a single text. This leads to heresy.
I would like to clarify my view of the thief on the cross. It is thin gruel to base ones salvation on easy believe ism. However, the thief is a good example that saving faith does not have to be accompanied with all sorts of correct doctrine . He simply believed who Jesus said he was and asked for mercy, and it was granted. Simple faith.