We are in the midst of a series about the Apostles’ Creed. We have previously considered what “believe” means in the Scriptures, why we need to not check our brains in at the church door, and why we need more than the Bible to help guide in our Jesus-faith.
The Apostles’ Creed is special, while not written by the Apostles, it is a concise summary of their teachings. We need not concern ourselves with rushing through or taking whole chunks at a time … as there is much to ponder. Consider the first line, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” We have previously done two sermons on belief. There is still room to consider:
- I believe in God
- I believe in God, the Father
- I believe in God, the Father Almighty
- I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
And that is simply the first line. So, let’s take a look at our map. We’ll be following the translation that appears in Alister McGrath’s book I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I Believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontious Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Very quickly, if we look at how the Creed is structured, we can see that the Fathers bequeathed to us a picture of our Triune God–Father, Son, and Spirit–and a summary of the jobs they each do. I hesitate to say it like that, because Father, Son, and Spirit are often at work together. Yet, for our training purposes we can perhaps better grasp these truths, if we consider the Creed in this fashion.
Two other point perhaps needs to be considered. McGrath’s translation reads/sounds a bit different from the Creed we all memorized in King James English. For example King James speaks of the “quick and the dead,” while McGrath speaks of the “living and the dead.” While the language reads/sounds different, the meaning is the same. Perhaps reading it in modern English will help us to consider its timeless truths with freshness.
The second point which needs to be considered is that many of you will no doubt hone in on the line, “descended to the dead.” This is not an insert and new teaching from McGrath. In fact the King James way of stating this is, “He descended to hell.” This line has originally been a part of the Creed, but some are uncomfortable with it. In due time we will discuss it.
In the mean time this promises to be a very faith-building study. Today we will consider, “I believe in God.”
I believe in God.
This most basic of affirmations is the cornerstone to the hold Creed. Indeed we can divide it up as:
I believe in God
-
The Father Almighty
-
Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
-
The Holy Spirit
“I believe in God” is not only the most basic of affirmations in the Apostles’ Creed and in Christianity in general, it is also the most basic of affirmations in Jewish theology. This affirmation, known as the Shema, is the first thing Jewish children learn. Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 6.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (ESV).
I believe in God. If polled, most people in our country would attest to believing in God. We create bumper stickers and tee-shirts that read, “April Fools’ Day: National Atheists’ Day!” based on Psalm 14:1, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (ESV). We fight political battles against the secular left over our national motto, “In God we trust” and over the right to display reminders of God and of our Christian traditions in the public square.
Yet, is this the extent to what the Fathers and Moses intended to teach us about our most basic affirmation? Would our lives be deeply enriched, our Christian walks intensified, and our country a better place … if everyone agreed with the statement, “I believe in God?”
If belief implies necessary action, then on one level, we all might certainly be better off … both individually and as a church and as a country. Belief in God necessarily implies universal standards of right and wrong, which we did not create, which are external to us.
Consider the argument from one sector of what is termed “The New Atheism.” Of course atheism mean a belief in the complete absence of God. Sam Harris believes that belief in God has poisoned humanity, by making us all intolerant of one another … quite often to the point of flying planes into buildings and leading “crusades” against people who believe differently than we do. Harris asserts that once religious faith is done away with and reason & common sense dominate the scene, we will all have a more peaceful coexistence.
We are bound to one another. The fact that our ethical intuitions must, in some way, supervene upon our biology does not make ethical truths reducible to biological ones. We are the final judges of what is good, just as we remain the final judges of what is logical. And on neither front has our conversation with one another reached an end. There need be no scheme of rewards and punishments transcending this life to justify our moral intuitions or to render them effective in guiding our behavior in the world. The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love. The only demons we must fear are those that lurk inside every human mind: ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith, which is surely the devil’s masterpiece …. The days of our religious identities are clearly numbered. Whether the days of civilization itself are numbered would seem to depend, rather too much, on how soon we realize this (The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, pp. 226, 227).
We you able to catch Harris’s gist? Yes, we are bound together in the human community. Yes we are biological creatures. However we don’t have to be determined by our biology, because we get to decide our own systems of right and wrong. The faster we employ “reason, honesty and love” to this task, and the faster we execute religious faith and its satanic spawns: “ignorance, hatred, greed, and faith” is the faster we will save civilization from utter annihilation. In essence we simply rely on our own education and minds to make our laws, rules and codes of conduct.
Yet, is this really possible? With no external authority, there is no common system of right and wrong. This is known as relativism. Relativism’s golden rule is “the one who owns the gold rules.” So, yes, in theory having everyone living under a common system of right and wrong birthed by a common belief in God is what makes society liveable.
However, atheism, even this “New Atheism” is not what worries me the most … and thus not what we’ll spend most of our time on today. Rather what worries me the most is what I call “Christian atheism.” Christian atheism is the practice of believing in God, but living as if God did not exist. Christian atheism simply finds believing in God as nothing more than memorizing a bunch of churchy facts … while I go about business as usual. It is knowing about God, rather than seeking to actually know God. It is harping so strongly on grace, while at the same time scrutiny is never or rarely placed on the fruit of grace in my life.
Consider this reminder from James, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder!” (2:19; ESV) In other words merely having a bunch of fact floating around in our brains does not hold a candle to the affirmation, “I believe in God.”
Typically, I believe, there are two camps of Christian atheists. In both camps people possess belief in God, but live as though he does not exist. One camp contains people who put feet to their faith … until tough times or tragedy strikes. During these times calling out to God is about as useful as writing letters to Santa. In the other camp lies people who cling to God during difficult times apply lots less care to their relationships with God during the good/easy times. “Prayer meeting? Why have that when we can eat bbq and chicken bog?” “Prayer meeting? Why go when I am so tired and just want to watch TV?”
“Now wait a minute, William! We’re saved by grace! Why do we need to hype so hard on works? We’re not saved by our own efforts!”
I’m glad you brought that up. Let’s read our verse from James in a bit more context.
James 2:14-19:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! (ESV).
Allow me, if you will, to paraphrase James, “Faith without works is dead.” While it is certainly true that God did not choose to love us because of our own righteousness, it is equally true that if we are producing nothing with our faith … then it is possible that our faith amounts to nothing in God’s sight. After all consider, if you will, how James defined biblical religion.
James 1:26 & 27:
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (ESV).
In other words the affirmation, “I believe in God,” ought to produce three things:
- A “beforeness” in relation to God. “I believe in God” ought to give birth to constant attention to live my life “before” the presence of God … and in the presence of God … in constant seeking-fellowship with him.
- Social morality … as exemplified by vigilant attention to ministry to the orphans and the widows … to “the least of these” in our society.
- Personal morality … diligently keeping oneself unstained from the world.
Yet, the diligence can seem to take away from God’s grace. Yet, we cannot escape the divine directive for diligence and excellence to flow from the affirmation, “I believe in God.” In fact diligence flows through both our James passages and our previous Deuteronomy passage. Consider the continuing verses:
Deuteronomy 6:6-9:
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (ESV).
There was not a time when God’s teaching was not to be passed on from parents to children. Diligence … anything less wreaks of atheism … at least “Christian atheism.” You see saying that we believe in God is quite easy. After all Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy are all quite famous in our society. It is quite a different thing when believing in God births diligence in living “before God” or diligence in seeking him. It is quite a different thing when believing in God births diligence in social morality. It is quite a different thing when believing in God births diligence in personal morality.
As Christians, do we believe in God? Do we live as though we do? God help us in this endeavor. For the greatest threat to Christianity is not from atheism. It was from supposed “believers” who live as though they did not believe in God.
