Pillars of Christianity

“I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell, rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, who will come again to judge the quick 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”.

My memory is old but that seems to me to be the way it was. The words “crucified, dead and buried” have been replaced by “crucified, died and was buried”. The Church of England currently incorporates a couple of minor changes: ‘creator’ in place of ‘Maker’ and ‘he descended to the dead’ in place of ‘descended into hell’. The first change seems a bit unnecessary, but interesting in that many North American indigenous peoples believe in ‘the Creator’. The latter change presumably because there is some question as to the exact meaning of ‘descended into hell’. Also the “quick” have been changed to the “living”, effectively just a language update. The ‘holy catholic Church’ is the universal Christian Church, not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church, so often abbreviated to Catholic Church.

So the first part of the Creed is the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Next the belief in the Holy catholic Church. This is important to recognise that we are all part of the same universal body of Christ, regardless of what denomination Church we worship in.

“The communion of saints” got me thinking. This is clearly not the Holy Communion or Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. So I went back to basics. A definition of “communion” that I like is “a close relationship with someone in which feelings and thoughts are exchanged”. So who are saints? They are not necessarily those who are designated as Saints by churches. The word saint comes from the similar French word which is derived from the Latin word ‘sanctus’ which means Holy and is the root of the word ‘sanctified’. Here is a nice article on ways we are sanctified: 3 Ways Christians Are Sanctified. Several times, Paul refers to church members as saints in his epistles. So my interpretation of the communion of saints is the close relationships and exchanges which we need with other church members. I believe that group Bible Study is a good example of this, where we exchange our thoughts and experiences.

Just as an aside, that is my interpretation and may differ from an “approved” interpretation. I believe the Holy Spirit gave me the idea of this blog so as to clarify and share my faith. As a relatively new Christian, I may be totally misinterpreting some things, in which case I shall be delighted to receive comments to put me straight.

The forgiveness of sins is an example of the amazing Grace and Mercy of God. It is one of the tenets of our faith that Jesus dies for our sins and that we are forgiven them through our belief in, and love for, Jesus

The resurrection of the body I do not fully understand. Yes, I believe that we will have a resurrected body, but not exactly the one we left behind, although I am sure it will have a close relationship to it. Whether we are buried or cremated, atoms of our body are dispersed into the environment and potentially become part of plants or animals or other people. Check out the words of “On Ilkla Moor Baht ‘at” (aka. On Ilkley Moor Without A Hat) to see how that can happen. But then everything is possible with God and we won’t know until we do. As Paul said “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face”.

The life everlasting is the final belief of the Apostles’ Creed. That is indeed the promise. Is that a motivation? Jesus is asked what someone has to do to achieve everlasting life, so it is not completely under the surface. On the other hand, it is not something I think about, even though I am in my 80th year, because it doesn’t affect my daily life or my love of God. For me it is a reassuring fact, very much in the background.

Prayer

Prayer, talking to God, is an essential part of our faith. Although there have been suggestions that Christians might pray at specific times of the day, the reality is that God is everywhere all the time so we can pray anywhere at any time. The advantage of having multiple set times during the day, means that you are constantly reminded of God’s presence, if you need a reminder. The disadvantage is that it may start to feel a duty, rather than a joy. I frequently thank God and praise him for things through the day, as well as trying to put aside time for specific praise, thanks, apologising for where I fell short, and making specific requests.

Alms

Since the beginning of Christianity, Christians have been giving to support those less fortunate than themselves. Many hospitals were founded by Christians. There are alms houses all over this country where people’s faith has moved them to help others. Giving is and always was a part of Christianity. The principle of tithing is mentioned in the Holy Bible and is emphasised more in some churches than in others. Paul in his epistles refers to giving a number of times and also makes clear his appreciation of churches that have collected to finance his ministry. He also makes requests for donations to relieve poor churches. There are examples of Christians giving away 50% to 90% of their income according to their means, but this does not belittle the giving of those who can afford less. Jesus makes this clear when he says the widow giving her mite is giving more than those who ostentatiously give large amounts they can easily afford.

Fasting

Prayer and fasting gets several mentions in the Holy Bible and is recommended but perhaps doesn’t get the emphasis that it needs. It can be both healthy and spiritual but should be done at times to suit the individual’s physical and spiritual needs, rather than at set seasons. I have fasted for several days for health reasons in my pre-Christian life, but not since. I am resolved to combine prayer and fasting as soon as I have resolved my problems with nausea from the meds. I did fast for 24 hours and then had a meal which almost instantly came up again,, and I am not anxious to repeat that. I am currently trying CBD to deal with the nausea and it seems effective so far, but I am only a week into it.

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is more of a Roman Catholic tradition than a Protestant one, though some Protestants will make a pilgrimage to a place such as Iona where there is an opportunity for Christian fellowship, prayer and meditation ‘away from it all’. Might be a very good idea, but I’m not sure I would be up to it at my age. Lourdes is a popular pilgrim destination for those in search of healing and not only for Roman Catholics. There are confirmed stories of healing there and I am unable to comment on whether they are conveyed by the waters or by the pilgrim’s faith. As Jesus said to the woman who touched his garment, believing that it would give her healing, “thy faith hath made thee whole” (Matthew 9 v.22).

In some respects, pilgrimage seems unnecessary with God being everywhere all the time. But never having been a pilgrim, I cannot really comment. Perhaps the travel is important – I can see that it would be very beneficial to be focused on the journey and the destination. And I can imagine the peace and tranquillity and closeness to God that one might feel having arrived at a Holy place. I think I might almost talk myself into making a pilgrimage.

Talking about pilgrimage, I have just recently read “The Pilgrim’s Progress” written by John Bunyan in about 1680. And a wonderful book it is too, being an allegory of the Christian faith journey with struggles and diversions and temptations on the way. I even felt a bit weepy at times when reading parts that particularly resonated. The pilgrim, named Christian, started out with a heavy burden of sin locked to his back, weighing him down as he began his journey. And it was beautifully released when he came to the Cross. Happy to say he reaches the Celestial City at the end of his journey. Part 2 is the journey of his wife and children when she realises how wrong she was not to accompany Christian in the first place. I highly recommend this book.

Conclusion

I am not trying to draw a comparison between Christianity and Islam, which is essentially anti-Christian in its denial of Jesus as the Son of God. We talk of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the three major “Abrahamic” religions (there are others), which they are in terms of the number of adherents, but they are totally different of course. Christianity follows on from Judaism in that the prophets foretold the Christ Jesus, though He wasn’t what Jews expected, so many rejected him, though of course, the first Christians were Jews. I am hard pressed to see a reason for any religion to follow Christianity because Jesus with His teaching, with His crucifixion and with His resurrection showed us God in all His glory and all His love and all His mercy. It is true that mankind has periodically corrupted the message and people have twisted it to their advantage, but it continues to shine through in its original form. As Gamaliel said in the Sanhedrin, about the Apostles brought before them: “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5.38/39). After 2,000 years, I believe that says it is from God.