Does it Matter?<\\/h2>\\n Many Christian denominations are creedal, and they recite creeds such as the Nicene Creed<\\/a>. This creed is trinitarian. God the Father is described as the creator of the universe. Jesus is described as his only-begotten Son. This creed states that Jesus was born of a virgin and resurrected from the dead. The Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father and the Son.<\\/p>\\n Today, fewer people believe in personal gods, virgin births, and physical resurrections. Many people believe that God is impersonal and that Jesus\\u2019 birth and resurrection are symbolic. Many people (like Barton Stone, 200 years ago) question ancient doctrines like the Trinity and the atonement. Every institution (except the church) reviews its beliefs and practices periodically.<\\/p>\\n Modern people are more perplexed than convinced by the abstract philosophical concepts that intrigued the Iron Age bishops in Nicaea. Does it matter if Jesus was \\u201cbegotten, not made,\\u201d as opposed to \\u201cmade, not begotten\\u201d or \\u201cboth begotten and made\\u201d or \\u201cneither begotten nor made?\\u201d Does it matter if the Holy Spirit proceeded solely from the Father, as Eastern Christians insist?<\\/p>\\n \\u00a0<\\/p>\\n

{"id":891,"date":"2024-05-23T08:25:17","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T13:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/youmightberight\/?p=891"},"modified":"2024-06-01T15:07:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T20:07:58","slug":"beliefs-fundamental-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/youmightberight\/2024\/05\/beliefs-fundamental-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"What Beliefs are Fundamental to Christianity?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There are more than 45,000 forms of Christianity worldwide, and they disagree on the fundamentals. What beliefs are fundamental to Christianity?<\/p>\n

I used to attend a Disciples of Christ<\/a> church, founded by Barton Stone and Thomas Campbell almost 200 years ago. Stone questioned much Christian orthodoxy, including the Trinity and atonement. When one of the current members of our church wondered what beliefs are fundamental to Christianity, she insisted, \u201cSurely, we all agree on the Trinity!?!\u201d<\/p>\n

I reminded her that one of the original Disciples questioned the doctrine of the Trinity. \u201cWhat?!?\u201d she exclaimed. \u201cWhich of the twelve apostles did not believe in the Trinity?\u201d I was talking about Stone, I replied. None of the twelve apostles believed in the Trinity; the Trinity was a fairly late development, and the doctrine was not clarified until the fourth-century church councils.<\/p>\n

(Scholars date the Didache<\/a>, which is often called the first Christian catechism, late in the first century. Jesus is mentioned in prayers to God as \u201cJesus, Thy Servant.\u201d Certainly \u201cJesus, Thy Servant\u201d in the Didache is a long way from \u201cThe way, the truth, and the life\u201d in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John was probably written after the Didache, for a different community.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

"There

What beliefs are fundamental to Christianity? Image from Pixabay\/pierreforlin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Does it Matter?<\/h2>\n Many Christian denominations are creedal, and they recite creeds such as the Nicene Creed<\/a>. This creed is trinitarian. God the Father is described as the creator of the universe. Jesus is described as his only-begotten Son. This creed states that Jesus was born of a virgin and resurrected from the dead. The Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father and the Son.<\/p>\n Today, fewer people believe in personal gods, virgin births, and physical resurrections. Many people believe that God is impersonal and that Jesus\u2019 birth and resurrection are symbolic. Many people (like Barton Stone, 200 years ago) question ancient doctrines like the Trinity and the atonement. Every institution (except the church) reviews its beliefs and practices periodically.<\/p>\n Modern people are more perplexed than convinced by the abstract philosophical concepts that intrigued the Iron Age bishops in Nicaea. Does it matter if Jesus was \u201cbegotten, not made,\u201d as opposed to \u201cmade, not begotten\u201d or \u201cboth begotten and made\u201d or \u201cneither begotten nor made?\u201d Does it matter if the Holy Spirit proceeded solely from the Father, as Eastern Christians insist?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFalse Fundamentals\u201d<\/h2>\n \ My intent is not to convince or unconvince anyone of anything. Reasonable people can disagree. The point of the post is that even Christians disagree. Because of these disparities in beliefs, it is more accurate and helpful to discuss \u201cChristianities,\u201d rather than \u201cChristianity.\u201d We all think that our beliefs are normative. In fact, there is no such thing as \u201cnormative.\u201d<\/p>\n The key question is \u201cDoes it matter?\u201d The late progressive Christian author Rachel Held Evans<\/a> once lamented the \u201cfalse fundamentals\u201d that have overshadowed Jesus\u2019 words and works:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that a whole lot of people, both Christians and non-Christians, are under the impression that you can\u2019t be a Christian and vote for a Democrat, you can\u2019t be a Christian and believe in evolution, you can\u2019t be a Christian and be gay, you can\u2019t be a Christian and have questions about the Bible, you can\u2019t be a Christian and be tolerant of other religions, you can\u2019t be a Christian and be a feminist, you can\u2019t be a Christian and drink or smoke, you can\u2019t be a Christian and read the New York Times, you can\u2019t be a Christian and support gay rights, you can\u2019t be a Christian and get depressed, you can\u2019t be a Christian and doubt. In fact, I am convinced that what drives most people away from Christianity is not the cost of discipleship but rather the cost of false fundamentals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Next time you are asked to recite a creed, ask yourself at every phrase 1) whether you really believe it and 2) whether it really matters if you do. For some, the only reliable statement in the creed is \u201ccrucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried.\u201d Others even question that, wondering if Jesus of Nazareth was a historical person, based on the scant historical record.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

Imagine that\u2026<\/h2>\n \ I believe that Jesus existed, and I am inspired by his words and works. However, I do not believe that Jesus or his earliest followers thought that he was God. In The Way<\/em>, I suggest:<\/p>\n \nImagine that Jesus was not born of a virgin; instead, he was conceived the normal way. In some ways, that is an even more powerful story.<\/li>\nImagine that Jesus was not the second person of the Trinity; instead, he was of the same mind<\/em> of God, but not of the same nature<\/em>. In some ways, that is an even more powerful story.<\/li>\nImagine that Jesus was not resurrected; instead, he appeared in\u00a0visions (as he appeared to Paul) to 500 people. In some ways, that is an even more powerful story.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n* If Jesus was born as a man, lived as a man, and died as a man (albeit a very special man), would any of us live our lives any differently? If Jesus was not born of a virgin, if he was not divine, if he was not resurrected, would the wisdom of his words and the power of his works lose their allure, or would we follow a historical Jesus as gladly as we follow a mythologized Jesus?<\/p>\n There are more than 45,000 forms of Christianity, and they disagree on the fundamentals. What beliefs are fundamental to Christianity?<\/p>\n ** \u00a0<\/p>\n If you want to stay up to date on the latest from You Might Be Right, simply\u00a0subscribe<\/a>\u00a0with your email.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"* There are more than 45,000 forms of Christianity worldwide, and they disagree on the fundamentals. What beliefs are fundamental to Christianity? I used to attend a Disciples of Christ church, founded by Barton Stone and Thomas Campbell almost 200 years ago. Stone questioned much Christian orthodoxy, including the Trinity and atonement. When one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5496,"featured_media":894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,12,225,222],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-beliefs","tag-christianity","tag-doctrine","tag-fundamental"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat beliefs are fundamental to Christianity?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are more than 45,000 forms of Christianity, and they disagree on the fundamentals. 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