On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Christine Smith
<christine_mb_smith@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm sorry if this sounds too exclusive, but I just feel the need to say this (I can't believe that I have to!?): If you reject the Nicene Creed, you are not a Christian.
To my mind complex creedal statements that are not (after all) part of
the Bible, complicate matters.
John 3:16 states:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
It seems to me that this is sufficient alone. You can argue for ages
and write down complex legal definitions about what is meant by
"whosoever believes in him", but to my mind you'll never have a
rigorous definition. If you believe in your heart in Jesus as God's
Son, given that we may have everlasting life, then you are a
Christian. [ And also that you're not going to cease to exist after
your physical death].
All other stuff (e.g. were Adam and Eve literal? was the talking snake
literal?) are superfluous. They are there to teach us spiritual
wisdom but it isn't necessary to accept them as literal history. I
was quite shocked on attending a Christian group at the Oxford Science
Park, where my firm was located. Most of the group were staunch Young
Earth Creationists. I mentioned John 3:16 without quoting it because
I assumed everyone knew the verse as one of the most important ones in
the bible. I was taught when memorising Bible verses that it wasn't
worth knowing a girl unless you knew her telephone number! I even
learnt it at Sunday school in a cheesy chorus that was set to the tune
of "O Danny Boy"! To my surprise the leader of the group asked me to
say what was said in John 3:16 - he didn't apparently know the quote!
Iain
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Received on Fri Sep 18 19:08:49 2009
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