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I'll summarizes some of the main points of the video here. This is largely a question of if the authority of Scriptures, the reliability of the translation of Scripture, the infallibility of Scripture (as communicated by God the Holy Spirit to the original authors) and the clarity with which God communicated His message to His intended audience. I typically follow the Historical-Grammatical approach to Biblical Interpretation (see How to Interpret the Bible which speaks of the various approaches to biblical hermeneutics). With that in mind, a key verse here would be Exodus 20:11 (the justification for the fourth commandment), "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." This leaves no room for Progressive Evolution, The Gap Theory, or any other Theistic Evolution model that tries to insert millions, billions, or even trillions of years into the Bible (what some people call "deep time").
Without the creation account of Genesis 1, the story of Adam and Eve which gives the foundation of law, government, family, and the good work that God calls us to to "keep" (protect and cultivate) His creation don't make sense. We then also can't explain the existence of sin and death which are explained by Genesis 3, and then the whole gospel falls apart because if there is no First Adam, there is no need for a Second Adam. Also, the end of Revelation doesn't make much sense without a literal interpretation of Genesis as the end is a better version of the beginning. We see the Tree of Life as bookends of the story--Adam and Eve are kept from the Garden so that they might not eat of the Tree of Life after they sinned, but the Tree of Life is available for all to eat freely in the New Heavens and New Earth. The video makes other good points, but these were a few that I wanted to highlight.
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I wrote on this same topic a few years ago in this blog the-importance-of-creeds-catechism-and-liturgy-in-the-church.html. I'd like to focus in on three creeds today (one I already spoke about) that most apologists would look to as creeds that all orthodox Christians (with a small 'o') should hold to.
First, The Apostle's Creed. My only commentary on this one is that the word "catholic" which a lower-case 'c' here means "one body" as described in the book of 1 Corinthians. We who are in Christ are all members of one body with one Head who is Christ. (See Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 5:23, Romans 12:5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. Second will be the Nicene Creed:: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. The last one for today is The Athanasian Creed: Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons; nor dividing the Essence. For there is one Person of the Father; another of the Son; and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one; the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is; such is the Son; and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated; the Son uncreated; and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated; nor three infinites, but one uncreated; and one infinite. So likewise the Father is Almighty; the Son Almighty; and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties; but one Almighty. So the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord; the Son Lord; and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords; but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity; to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; So are we forbidden by the catholic religion; to say, There are three Gods, or three Lords. The Father is made of none; neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created; but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten; but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid; the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation; that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess; that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance [Essence] of the Father; begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance [Essence] of his Mother, born in the world. Perfect God; and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father as touching his Manhood. Who although he is God and Man; yet he is not two, but one Christ. One; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh; but by assumption of the Manhood into God. One altogether; not by confusion of Substance [Essence]; but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man; so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies; And shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe truly and firmly, he cannot be saved. Anyone claiming to be a Christian should at least be willing to affirm the things these creeds affirm and deny the things these creeds deny (for their affirmations and denials are rooted in the Word of God). It used to be regular practice to recite these creeds on a regular basis, but as part of the seeker-friendly movement, many churches moved away from this as it told people that there was only one way to be saved and there were essential elements to the gospel that could not be left out. I'm not telling everyone that they need to carry these around in their pockets or memorize them so they can quote them to someone (though neither is a bad idea), but I'd encourage all the readers of this article to personally study them and dig deep into what they affirm and deny. I'd also encourage you to push for your local congregations to have a statement of faith that affirms what these creeds affirm and deny what these creeds deny. Don't assume anything in today's culture--put it in writing and put it wherever the public goes to see the position statements that your congregation holds to. You'll see the "What We Believe" area of this website that links to some position statements of the church I attend, the catechism that we teach to our children, and what we believe a healthy gospel community (a local church) looks like. None of these creeds and catechisms are as important as the Word of God, and should any creed, confession or catechism be found to be in conflict with what the Word of God clearly affirms or denies, the Word of God is supreme in teaching us all that we need for life and godliness and is our "canon" (our measuring rod) by which we measure everything else. As always, if you have questions about any if these items, please feel free to contact me using the Contact Us form. Let's first start with why I'm so interested in all of these areas and how so many of the people involved in math and science were also involved in logic, theology, and philosophy. Science at its core wants to understand the way things are around you and to understand the rules that nature plays by. This naturally assumes though that there are rules and that they are consistent or at least predictable and knowable and that they can be found out empirically (through observation). These assumptions come together in what we call "The Scientific Method" which is a way in which someone who is a "scientist" tests theories and "truth claims." But can all truth be tested by way of The Scientific Method? Certainly not, because, assuming The Scientific Method itself is true, it is not something that can be empirically tested.
So, there must be something bigger than The Scientific Method. The same can be said for the laws of mathematics. while these rules are more conceptual and reaching towards metaphysics instead of physics (thought instead of material), they are not yet sufficient in explaining the order that we see in the universe, but are simply just a language used to describe the patterns and nature of the universe that we see. Philosophy is usually defined as the study of how to know that something is true. There are many philosophies though that take the same facts and come up with drastically different conclusions. For example Is the whole equal to the sum of its parts or is it greater than the sum of its parts? Context may be necessary here, but it is going to require some more information that may not be a part of the problem itself--it may involve things from outside like presuppositions, axioms, undefined terms, postulates, and theorems. These are all integrated deeply into the disciplines of math and science, but also other areas of our lives. We just may not be as honest about how these things play a role in our view of things like economics, politics, law, or education. What many people call a "philosophy" is actually a much larger topic called a "worldview." It moves beyond simply how to know and identify truth and actually establishes a belief system and how you filter truth claims to decide if they are consistent or inconsistent with that system of beliefs and how you handle apparent inconsistencies. All of these cases so far that we've been discussing--math, science, philosophy, and apologetics (as well as many other disciplines) first require us to have a common basis for forming and argument and knowing what the definitions of words like "true" and "false" are and under what circumstances are are statements going to take on a truth value of true or false. If truth is relative and words can simultaneously mean different things to different people and there is no common "right" or "wrong" way to interpret the words that someone is saying, then communication is nearly impossible. We therefore must establish some common ground rules which is where logic comes into play. There are three main laws of logic which are assumed to be true for all future arguments and discussions (and have been assumed to be true up to this point as well): 1) The Law of Identity: "If A, then A." This may seem like a silly law but it necessary sometimes to make such a statement that something is itself. This is not a statement of causality, but simply of identity. 2) The Law of Excluded Middle: A "truth claim" (from hereon called a logical proposition) can have a truth value of "true" or "false" and nothing else. If it has no truth value or you cannot say that it has a binary truth value of "true" or "false," then it is not a logical proposition. 3) The Law of Non-Contradiction: A logical proposition cannot be both true and false (in the same way at the same time). There are lots of materials on these laws, so I won't go into them very much, but this still leaves us at a place where we have something where we cannot use the laws of logic to explain themselves and there has to be something bigger than logic itself. This drove many people in these fields to search for their answers in the disciplines of theology and religion, stemming from a belief that all law must come from a law-giver and that we best understand what is true and right when we understand the Creator as it is His nature and character that we see at work and things consistent with that nature and character are "true" or "right" and things inconsistent with that character are "false" or "wrong." Other words may also be used in other contexts such as "righteous" and "wicked." It is here that we reach what appears to be the end result of our search. God would seem to be the "Unmoved Mover" and the "Uncaused Cause." While someone like Dawkins might sarcastically ask, "Who created God?" the simple answer is "No one, that is why He is God." Genesis 1:1 tells us, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This short verse contains many profound truths: 1) There was a beginning--therefore matter is not eternal 2) God existed outside of time and is eternal 3) God created everything (and is therefore sovereign over it) However, even our understanding of God relies on some presuppositions. For instance, I'll be honest with what I just did. I didn't tell you that I believed that God exists, He's knowable, that at least some truth is absolute and knowable, and that I believed that God revealed truth about Himself in the Bible so that we could know it and know more about Him. I just quoted the Bible as a source of truth and I assumed you figured all that out. You may not agree with me on those points, but if you don't then our conversation probably won't go very far because we're going to have a very difficult time coming to the same conclusion on anything if we can't agree on some of these foundational issues. These types of discussions are often not encouraged in today's culture and people are usually afraid to ask the deep, probing questions about what someone believes and why they believe it and what kinds of underlying assumptions may have played a role in their coming to their conclusion. I hope to be open and honest about my views with you and that this will inspire you to not only ask me questions but possibly for you to ask these questions of yourselves and others. I believe in a God big enough to deal with the questions we need answers to (though He is not required to give answers and doesn't always answer our questions want in the way we want or in the time frame we want). That brings me to my last point here and that is that there are some things in life that we know are true, but we may not be able to explain them to anyone else. Hebrews 11 talks much about the subject of faith and those who had great faith. Here are just a few verses from that chapter: "1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. There will be some things that are bigger than science or even my personal observations which I know to be true. I can tell you that for sure there a thing called a "point" in geometry even though I can't define for you what it is. All of us have faith in order to build the foundation for our belief system because every belief system has to start with something that is not provable by any of the other items built on top of those foundational items (axioms and undefined terms). It's okay to reach a point in your worldview where you can't dig any deeper and say "I just know this to be true," but even those statements should be consistent and coherent with the rest of your belief system. Some of you may be surprised to hear me say this, but as I’ve grown older, and especially since I’ve been a part of a local congregation (a “local church”) which practices these things, I have learned their importance. Let’s first start with why creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. However, I’d also like to emphasize the importance of the “Statement of Faith” and the “Church Covenant” of the local church that I am currently a member of.
First, why do I feel these are important? First, it simplifies the essentials of the gospel and what it means to be a Christian down into a common language that everyone across generations can speak. They also encourage us to search Scripture to find out where these truths came from and if this is something truly “biblical” in nature. Also it helps provide unity for us as we come around a common definition of what it means to be a “Christian”....it is not a word or belief system that we get to make up on our own, nor is it a moving target, but it is something that others have seriously thought about how it was defined in the Bible and they knew it was important to codify these truths into creeds that could be recited and memorized, even during a time when most people couldn’t read, so that they could not be lead away by false doctrine, because they knew what the “one true faith” was. “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) This verse has taken on a new dimension for my as I’ve seen for myself the things that adults can recite that they learned as children. Lyrics to a song, quotes from a movie, and so on. In a way this is our culture’s own “catechism” and attempt to teach some form of “theology” from the producers and artists to our children. This is also a huge goal of our education system--to build in a worldview that will govern the way a child things about everything while they are young and their minds are still “plastic” (moldable), because we know at some point their worldview and belief system will become very “concrete” and nearly impossible to change. While it is important for adults to repeat and learn these truths, it is vital for our children to lean the truth about Christianity before they are led astray by someone who wants to tell them that it’s something different than how it is defined for us in the Bible. One word of caution though is that we should not replace knowledge of the believe system with actually embracing and believing ourselves. Many of us can recite many things that we may or may not actually believe to be true or some things which we believe don’t have any truth value at all. Knowing what marriage is and being able to recite wedding vows doesn’t make a person married....that’s a relationship between a man and a woman who have entered into a covenant with each other until death. In the same way Christianity is covenant relationship between Christ and His Church, but it is a covenant relationship that even death cannot separate. Until someone enters into that covenant, they cannot be considered to be part of the “bride of Christ” also known as “the Church.” Just like wedding vows aren’t only for the wedding day and are something for those participating to repeat to each other often when they need to be reminded of truth and for those who are witnessing to hear and remind each other, the parties involved, and for those who don’t understand to learn what the covenant of marriage is all about, so also do creeds, catechism, and liturgy play a vital part in us sharing our true faith with others, helping each other stay on track and not be led astray by cults and false teachers, and helping us understand and love more deeply the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is a way to remember who He is and what He has done and who we are and how we did nothing to deserve or earn any of the love or grace He has shown. Be careful because as there is good liturgy, there is also some bad liturgy. Make sure you always are a “Berean” that checks everything against the entire council of God’s Word. If you’d like to see some of the items that I’ve been speaking of here, I’ll provide some links for you at this time. 1) Statement of Faith for our local church: https://hcfellowship.com/statement-of-faith/ 2) Church Covenant for our local church: https://hcfellowship.com/church-covenant/ 3) The New City Catechism (this is what our local church uses for our Children’s Catechism): http://newcitycatechism.com/ 4) Here’s a link to the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed: https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds Last but not least, all of these mean nothing without actually knowing the Word of God. In today’s culture there are so many free Bible websites and apps, but there’s also still something special about having a printed copy of God’s Word in your hand that you can read, cross-reference, and take notes in. Some of my best memories growing up were seeing my father having his devotions in the morning and making it his priority first thing, and then sharing that time with us as we asked him what he was reading and he would read it to us and explain it to us. Creeds are no substitute for teaching and instruction, and I encourage everyone to be a part of a local church that provides this and to provide it for your own families because this is a responsibility given first to parents (as I quoted from the book of Proverbs, but also in other verses). |
ABout This SectionThese articles will cover topics about the Christian worldview. They will largely address the questions of Origins, Meaning, Morality, Destiny and Identity, but they may also have more practical applications to our orthodoxy (what we should believe) and our orthopraxy (how we should live out our faith). Nothing is off the table here as if we are Christians we should be Christians in everything we say, do and think. Archives
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