conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

i like!!

me too...suprise?

Well, first of all it is concise. The Baptists may have a creed allergy, but they opened themselves up to this one by saying, "concise." Otherwise you could write a 10 page paper detailing your experiences, emotions, encounters through the Bible, and so on. So from that standpoint, it is a good thing. As one who does hold that the creeds are excellent core summaries, I also like it.

You tie it to scripture, which should help make it more digestable to a people who place the Bible at the center. This is a good thing. I like that you've located it's use historically and given it a purpose today, even for a non-creedal people. You might say more about "conversation between believers." Do you mean that in the ecumenical, or simply use within your particular group of believers?

Do you want me to run this past some ABC folks in town here I know (there's an ABC church right across from us that we work with a lot) to see what the initial reaction is? It'd be anonymous.

A question for you, too: What do you think they were looking for? I'm looking for an answer from a Baptist perspective. If you asked 10 people to answer it from your faith group, what tack would the majority take in answering it?

Hey, Mark. I'll delete the repeated comment.

First question: When I talk about it being a place or instrument for conversation, I mean only that. It is a tool to speak about faith. That can be over coffee at the coffee shop or in large ecumenical gatherings. What I am trying to steer away from is any language that suggests that you must buy into the creed to BE Christian. That is the big bugbear for Baptists.

Second question: I think a more typical answer would be more "personal" where I would talk about my relationship with Jesus and steer away from more doctrinal language. I might refer to a conversion experience and use more general ideas like "Lord and Savior" or "Community of Believers." I would love to read someone else's answer because I know that my answer is going to raise eyebrows just because I use a creed.

I think you might consider another word for "people" in the phrase "non-creedal people." Denomination, perhaps? Sect? Group? Tradition? Somehow "people" seems off -- too broad, perhaps.

My editing thought!

Otherwise, your answer is BRILLIANT. Way to speak who you truly are in a [fairly] nonthreatening manner, and uphold the faith so beautifully .....!!!

Thanks for the encouragement...I just have to be careful not to be too doctrinal about how I play in the creedal waters. That would doom my process to be certain.

So, just out of cursiosity, how far does freedom of belief go in the ABC? If I marched in and said I'd had some great experiences in my life with Christ, and that I was using the Bible to guide my days, but that I really didn't think He'd risen from the dead, would I be in trouble, or would that be okay?

Thanks for the answers, that helped me understand some more.

This is where our congregationalism and "primacy of the individual" gets us in trouble. You could likely find a church where you would be quite at home if you came to that conclusion. I have one or two in mind. You would be in a theological minority for certain, but the reality of religious freedom allows for such deviance from traditional Christian teachings. There is no power in the ABC that can kick you out of the church, withold communion or whatever. The congregation may be an uncompfortable place for a while if you pushed their thinking around. You may end up looking for another tradition or at the least another congregation that stands closer to where you believe. There is a reason why the UU comes from a congregationalist Christian tradition.

So, you would not be in trouble. No. You just miught be lonely for a while. Heh.

Now, in my church, if you were to come to me as a pastor with that, we might talk ait through. I woudl wonder how you came to that conclusion. I might pray with you that this is the leading of the Spirit and not something else. BUt then there is a long history in the Baptist liberal traditon for allowing myth to be myth and fact to be fact and a moving story to be just that. So, if jesus rose again, great. If not, does it really matter? If you are moved to a Christ-like life then run with it. I cannot judge you. That is God's job.

Clarification:

It's not the Apostle's Creed.

It's the Apostles' Creed.

It's the creed that emerged from the witness and preaching of all the apostles, not just one apostle.

treu dat...gracias for the typo catch...