Christian Democrat
Member
A genuine question because I’m not quite sure myself. I know I’m a Christian and always will be but have never quite figured what denomination reflects my views.
Here’s a summary of my beliefs.
I believe that there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit/Ghost. I believe in the literal bodily resurrection of Christ and in a literal heaven and hell.
I believe the Bible was inspired by God and written by man, and that all parts of scripture are profitable to study. However I do not believe in Biblical literalism and I believe that especially the creation story and the stories in Genesis are poetic myths that capture and distil truth, rather than being necessarily literally true in all cases.
I believe that salvation can only be attained through Jesus Christ and there is no other path to the Kingdom of God. I don’t rule out the possibility that some people without *explicit* faith in Christ might nonetheless be saved through his grace (so I am an inclusivist but definitely not a universalist).
I don’t accept the contradiction between belief in salvation by faith alone and by faith and works. True, saving faith inevitably leads to one performing good works, and faith without works is bankrupt - it’s not belief in God but merely acceptance of an intellectual theory about him. But I don’t believe in a works-based theology where we justify ourselves in God’s eyes by committing good deeds, since no one could possibly be saved on such a standard.
I don’t accept the Pope as anything more than a fallible human being, but I respect the current Pope as a theological voice worth listening to. I believe that many, though not all, Popes have been virtuous Christians who have helped the Christian community.
I am convinced by the historical arguments for their canonicity and thus accept the books of the Catholic deuterocanon (1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon etc.) as inspired scripture.
I believe that at least some souls may go to a form of purgatory after death, and that prayers said for the dead are far from pointless. But I also believe that traditional imagery of purgatory as a place of fire and torment is not accurate, and that purgatory is simply a place of purgation of sin - how this happens, and who ends up there, are questions we can’t answer.
I don’t believe in a penal substitutionary view of atonement. Instead I tend to see Christ’s death as a ransom to Satan to free mankind from the bondage of inherited sin, or else through the ‘Christus Victor’ idea. But I view theories about how atonement works as ultimately secondary to faith in that it *does* work.
I believe that God does not predetermine, but instead infallibly knows who will believe and be saved. Although God knows from the beginning of the world who will go where, the choice is still with the individual. (I think this is the Arminian view.)
I believe that Jesus will come again to judge mankind and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to fruition.
Here’s a summary of my beliefs.
I believe that there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit/Ghost. I believe in the literal bodily resurrection of Christ and in a literal heaven and hell.
I believe the Bible was inspired by God and written by man, and that all parts of scripture are profitable to study. However I do not believe in Biblical literalism and I believe that especially the creation story and the stories in Genesis are poetic myths that capture and distil truth, rather than being necessarily literally true in all cases.
I believe that salvation can only be attained through Jesus Christ and there is no other path to the Kingdom of God. I don’t rule out the possibility that some people without *explicit* faith in Christ might nonetheless be saved through his grace (so I am an inclusivist but definitely not a universalist).
I don’t accept the contradiction between belief in salvation by faith alone and by faith and works. True, saving faith inevitably leads to one performing good works, and faith without works is bankrupt - it’s not belief in God but merely acceptance of an intellectual theory about him. But I don’t believe in a works-based theology where we justify ourselves in God’s eyes by committing good deeds, since no one could possibly be saved on such a standard.
I don’t accept the Pope as anything more than a fallible human being, but I respect the current Pope as a theological voice worth listening to. I believe that many, though not all, Popes have been virtuous Christians who have helped the Christian community.
I am convinced by the historical arguments for their canonicity and thus accept the books of the Catholic deuterocanon (1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon etc.) as inspired scripture.
I believe that at least some souls may go to a form of purgatory after death, and that prayers said for the dead are far from pointless. But I also believe that traditional imagery of purgatory as a place of fire and torment is not accurate, and that purgatory is simply a place of purgation of sin - how this happens, and who ends up there, are questions we can’t answer.
I don’t believe in a penal substitutionary view of atonement. Instead I tend to see Christ’s death as a ransom to Satan to free mankind from the bondage of inherited sin, or else through the ‘Christus Victor’ idea. But I view theories about how atonement works as ultimately secondary to faith in that it *does* work.
I believe that God does not predetermine, but instead infallibly knows who will believe and be saved. Although God knows from the beginning of the world who will go where, the choice is still with the individual. (I think this is the Arminian view.)
I believe that Jesus will come again to judge mankind and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to fruition.