Belief in the Triune God, one on nature, diverse in expression
- God the Father creator and sustainer
of all
- Jesus His Son his life,
substitutionery death and resurrection
- The Holy Spirit present to empower all
believers and to lead them all into the truth
The brotherhood of all believers in the
one family of God - the Church
From a historical point of view,
considering the last time the Church Was a unified Body, the Nicene
Creed fulfils an all encompassing agreed statement of faith. From
a historical point of view, considering the last time the Church was a
unified body, the Nicene Creed fulfils an all-encompassing agreed
statement of faith. All major branches of the church can accept
this. Below is the text, minus later accretions:
"I believe in one God the Father Almighty; maker of heaven
and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
"And in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father
before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very god,
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by
whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our
salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the
Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was
crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was
buried; and the third day he rose again, according to the
Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand
of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge
both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
"And in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father; who
with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and
glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And in one Holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism
for the remission of sins; and I look to the resurrection of the
dead, and the life of the world to come." |
Most Simply, all those who have a
personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ would be considered as
brothers.
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Over recent years there has been much made
of what an organisation's origin was and whether it was biblical
according the reviewer's interpretation. Many have felt that the
only valid New Testament model was the "local church" whatever
this really is. If one takes the churches addressed by some of the
epistle writers, these were city and sometimes region wide. These
days people seem to have narrowed this down to small building related
gathering within cities and towns.
Parachurch organisations are regarded as
those that exist outside this framework, often as outreach, mission and
special interest groups. yet it is interesting to not the beginnings of
the Church taken from outside of the established Jewish priesthood (both
in Christ and his followers). In the Old Testament model groups of
prophets existed outside the priesthood structure too.
More on this is examined in the body of
the attached book
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