Conflicting Creeds
What is the Creed of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, and most other mainline Christian churches? You know it. It begins:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
[The full Creed -- the one I say several times a week -- is reproduced below.]
What is the Creed of the newly formed “Anglican Church in North America”?
“Only men, and no gays.”
At least that’s how it appears to me, and to USA Today. Read the story. Yes, the tie that binds the new Would-Be Anglican Church in North America is simply this: no women in the episcopate, and no queers. What a profound theological base upon which to form a new church. They disagree about much else: the efficacy of baptism, the significance of the Eucharist, the possibility of women's ordination, to name just a few. But they are united in their hatred.
The ACNA predicts it's going to grow by leaps and bounds now that it's distanced itself from the likes of me and the "heretical" Episcopal Church. With hatred and judgment as its core tenet ... I'm not so sure. I'm going to sit back and apply the Gamaliel principle.
====
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
[The full Creed -- the one I say several times a week -- is reproduced below.]
What is the Creed of the newly formed “Anglican Church in North America”?
“Only men, and no gays.”
At least that’s how it appears to me, and to USA Today. Read the story. Yes, the tie that binds the new Would-Be Anglican Church in North America is simply this: no women in the episcopate, and no queers. What a profound theological base upon which to form a new church. They disagree about much else: the efficacy of baptism, the significance of the Eucharist, the possibility of women's ordination, to name just a few. But they are united in their hatred.
The ACNA predicts it's going to grow by leaps and bounds now that it's distanced itself from the likes of me and the "heretical" Episcopal Church. With hatred and judgment as its core tenet ... I'm not so sure. I'm going to sit back and apply the Gamaliel principle.
====
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
posted by Lisa Fox at 6/24/2009 09:45:00 AM
10 Comments:
Wonderful post. Even though the Nicene Creed and I sometimes do not see exactly linguistically eye to eye, I have come to believe everything it says.
But to do that, I had to look beyond the words themselves and understand the spirit in which they were formed.
You know what's funny in all that? The renegade Anglicans are hung up on the words in one way just as firmly as for three decades I was hung up on the words in the opposite direction. But something in the last two years has shattered it for me, and now BECAUSE of the power BEHIND the words, not of the words themselves, I have come to say, "I believe. I truly believe all of it."
I pray that someday, those folks will stop being so hung up on the words.
Actually, the General Convention voted some time ago to drop "and the Son" from "... proceeds from the Father and the Son thereby returning to the original version. The change is to be reflected in any new prayer books and is effective optionally in all liturgies.
I for one made the switch before GC. :-) But then I am an Eastern sort of anglo-catholic kid.
FWIW
jimB
I believe in George Carlin, who died a year ago, but whose words on religion are funnier every day that passes.
The idea of an invisible guy in the sky watching everything we do gets more and more bizarre all the time.
Jim, dropping "and the son" should really impress the orthodox...
Oh, wait, they're talking to the breakaway group. Never mind.
Religion is so weird!
I think it's fascinating that ACNA thinks it is going to grow wildly right at the same time that the Southern Baptist Convention admits that it's shrinking at such a rate that it will lose half its membership in the next forty years. Apparently the Baptists understand that being rabidly right-wing does not ensures growth, an insight which seems to have escaped our dissidents.
Indeed, John. Hate doesn't seem to be a growth industry right now.
And sing that creed to the Calvin Hampton setting (S-105) and it's even better (especially with the accompaniment which is difficult with its parallel sixths).
Thanks for this comment/testimony, KirkE. My experience has been much like yours. After much spiritual wrangling, I can now say it with vigor.
Yeah, Jim, I know about the filoque clause. But what I copied is what is currently in the BCP.
Gotta find that, Caminante!
Post a Comment
<< Home