The Faith Presbyterian CRC is a Bible-based church in the Presbyterian & Reformed theological tradition. We hold to the full inspiriation of the Holy Scriptures as being the infallible and utterly reliable Word of God. We hold to the essential teachings of the first 7 ecumenical creeds of the church, most especially the Apostles' Creed, the Athanasian Creed & the Nicene Creed. We also hold to the teachings summarized in our Three Forms of Unity, namely: The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism & The Canons of Dordt. More information on all of this is presented in the articles below:
Why Creeds & Confessions?
The Apostles' Creed
The Athanasian Creed
The Nicene Creed
The Belgic Confession
The Heidelberg Catechism
The Canons of Dordt
Doctrinal & Pastoral Positions of the CRCNA
Further Postions held or permitted at Faith Presbyterian CRC
Our teaching on:
Baptism, Water
Baptism in the Holy Spirit
Communion (i.e., The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper)
Gifts of the Spirit
Ordination of Women
The Last Days & Christ's Return
A popular sentiment among many of us Christians is: "No creed but Christ." What we really mean by a statement like this is that we have little patience for complicated doctrines and we complain that Christ is much more simply known than that. "Just give me the Bible, thank you!, and the church will get along fine." We suspiciously look at church doctrine as the root of all evil and stodgy doctrinal formulations are viewed only as a cause of divisions in the church.
However, few among us would think twice about using a gospel tract as a tool for sharing the gospel. Nor would we experience any ill ease about handing out a booklet explaining the errors of a religious cult. This is ironic. For these are examples of why the early creeds and confessions of the Church were written and how they were used. The only thing that substantially differs between a gospel tract is that the historic creeds (meaning, "I believe") and the confessions ("I agree with...") have stood the test of time and have become classic gospel tracts. Like modern-day tracts, they were written to provide an outline of the Bible's central message or to confront the errors of cults.
So, if you have ever used a tract to share the gospel with a friend, what possible reason could you have for rejecting the historic creeds and confessions of the Church? Who knows, perhaps one day Bill Bright's The Four Spiritual Laws will finally be recognized as a creed of the church (maybe this is stretching it a bit! but I hope you get the idea).
The historic creeds and confessions do have a few drawbacks. While some of them are truly inspiring, not one of them is inspired. They stand under the Bible in importance and authority. And these more vintage gospel tracts often appear in old-fashioned English of the type few read or understand today. (It seems that, although we've updated the English versions of the Bible frequently, churches are reluctant to mess with the language of the creeds and confessions. There are exceptions.) Furthermore, the confessions reflect the culture and the times in which people were living, often resulting in harshness that goes beyond the Scripture. Occasionally the harshness is deserved but we are no longer in touch with a real knowledge of the rascals these folk were confronting. Consider how the Belgic Confession calls us to join in "thoroughly detesting those heretical anabaptists...". We read this and think, "I like Baptists...they're part of Christ's church." The radical anabaptists, however, had little in common with their modern day descendants. In many cases even many Baptists of today would "thoroughly detest the anabaptists" of that earlier era. Hopefully from this example you can appreciate that the confessions often appear extremist only because of our ignorance.
Why we should give the creeds and confessions a second chance and some serious study is this: they provide time-tested and enduring statements of what the larger church, through the ages, has always believed. The issues these creeds and confessions dealt with keep re-appearing under new management through the generations. In doctrine, as with history in general, 'those who are ignorant of history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.' The creeds and confessions provide good safeguards against flaky doctrine (which is the opposite of sound doctrine). And in the matter of spiritual truth, what you don't know really can hurt you. Just ask some former Branch Davidians or the relatives of those who followed Rev. Jim Jones into the jungle what their ignorance of sound doctrine cost them. Ignorance is not bliss!
Churches with no creedal tradition are all too often at the mercy of one man's experience (usually their current pastor) and, in fact, they do develop traditions in spite of the avowed effort to avoid them. The only problem is the "traditions" such men develop are being tested as they go.
Lacking sound doctrinal boundaries churches become vulnerable to any new teaching fad their current pastor or other church leaders are caught up in. For example, I've seen whole fellowships go into convulsions and over pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation rapture views of the end times. For some, if you don't believe their particular, highly specific end times chart, you can't be a member in good standing. The only end-times view we insist all true believers to hold is that which is expressed in the Apostles' Creed (as a summary of Scripture itself): "I believe...He shall come to judge the living and the dead." All other views represent a range of theory and opinion that Christians should be able to research and enjoy in spirited and respectful debate within the same Body of Christ. but when all the debate is done, these views will still remain little more than theories (the strengths and flaws of which will only be known when Christ does return!).
In even wilder (but no less true!) cases; popular Bible teachers, lacking any firm grasp of the historic statements of faith, have taught that God has nine bodies; or that God was roughly the same height and build of the pastor who was presenting the teaching!!! And this isn't the worst of it. Or how about the "God means to heal everyone now and the only condition is your "faith-teaching" or "Blab-it-grab-it" approaches to prayer? The creeds and confessions serve, in computer jargon, as something of a "firewall" against infecting the church with these kinds of theological viruses.
The Faith Presbyterian Christian Reformed Church of Guam holds to the essential teachings contained in the first three Ecumenical Creeds of the Church, that is, The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. We draw further instruction from the Belgic Confessions, The Heidelberg Catechism and The Canons of Dordt. Give them a look...even a serious study. I'm sure you will not be disappointed once you get through the dust.
This creed is called the Apostles' Creed not because it was produced by the apostles themselves but because it contains a brief and faithful summary of their teachings. The Apostles' creed is a marvelous gospel tract touching on the core beliefs held by all true Christians.
The version below is dated no later than the fourth century. More than any other Christian creed, the Apostles' Creed expresses the belief of the entire church in every place and time.
I believe in God, the Father, almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary,
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
*that is, the true and universal Christian church.
The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian Church in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism.
These heresies, which disturbed the church during the fourth century, concerned the doctrine of the trinity and of the person of Christ. Both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) church held this creed in honor, though with one important difference: the Western church insisted on the inclusion of the phrase and the Son (known as the filioque) iin the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit; this phrase still is repudiated by the Eastern Orthodox church. In it's present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381). It was accepted in it's present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but the filioque phrase was not added until 589. However, the creed is in substance an accurate and majestic formulation of the Nicene faith. This translation of the Greek text was approved by the CRC Synod of 1988.
We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
Begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come. Amen.
This creed is named after Athanasius (A.D. 293-373), the champion of orthodoxy against Arian attacks on the doctrine of the trinity. Although Athanasius did not write this creed and it is improperly named after him, the name persists because until the seventeenth century it was commonly ascribed to h im. It is not from Greek (Eastern), but from Latin (Western) origin, and is not recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church today. Apart from the opening and closing sentences, this creed consists of two parts, the first setting forth the orthodox doctrine of the trinity, and the second dealing chiefly with the incarnation and the two-natures doctrine. The translation above was adopted by the CRC Synod of 1988.
Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity
and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their persons
nor dividing their essence.
For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
the person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
The Son is immeasurable.
The Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal being.
So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us
to confess each person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
he was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in their entirety the three persons
are coeternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although he is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God's taking humanity to himself.
He is one,
certainly not by the blending of his essence,
but by the unity of his person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
he descended to hell;
he arose from the dead;
he ascended to heaven;
he is seated at the Father's right hand;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
At his coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.