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| Do you have to commit formal apostasy to get a job helping the homeless? |
'Statement of Faith
1. There is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. God is sovereign in creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
3. The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.
4. Since the fall, the whole of humankind is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God’s wrath and condemnation.
5. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, is fully God; he was born of a virgin; his humanity is real and sinless; he died on the cross, was raised bodily from death and is now reigning over heaven and earth.
6. Sinful human beings are redeemed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of their representative and substitute, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between them and God.
7. Those who believe in Christ are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God’s sight only because of the righteousness of Christ credited to them; this justification is God’s act of undeserved mercy, received solely by trust in him and not by their own efforts.
8. The Holy Spirit alone makes the work of Christ effective to individual sinners, enabling them to turn to God from their sin and to trust in Jesus Christ.
9. The Holy Spirit lives in all those he has regenerated. He makes them increasingly Christ like in character and behaviour and gives them power for their witness in the world.
10. The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ, to which all true believers belong.
11. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in person, to judge everyone, to execute God’s just condemnation on those who have not repented and to receive the redeemed to eternal glory.
This is the Off the Fence statement of Faith; it is displayed on our website and is the wording from the Evangelical Alliance. All Trustees, staff and volunteers should adhere, believe and sign this statement.'
Would you sign this? I can see one or two problems that could impede my application...I mean...the Bible, 'as originally given'? What on Earth does that mean? If you have to sign a Protestant oath why was this advertised in a Catholic Church? Nice to see they give a nod to the perpetual virginity of Our Blessed Lady, though. I mean, I'd love to apply for this job but I've just cut off my hand and plucked my eyes out because the Bible told me to.
Someone just kindly sent me this Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship link on Wikipedia. It seems they have an eerily similar 'Statement of Faith'.
6 comments:
It's classic 'sola scriptura' (statement 3),'sola fide' (statements 6&7) protestantism so no. Interestingly statement 9 is almost Catholic but I can't see the early protestants agreeing with it. Statement 10 is decidedly unCatholic as well, no reference to one Church or that it being founded on the Apostles. It's noticeable that there's no reference to the resurrection of the dead either.
Being charitable it might just be someone coming in chancing their arm and sticking it on the noticeboard. It happens. If it isn't it's lax control by the parish priest/administrator. I must admit sometimes I take this type of stuff down.
ANY EXCUSE NOT TO APPLY FOR A JOB, EH LOZZA?!
I would have to recuse myself from signing such a statement.
Some Catholic reaction to a similar doctrinal statement can be found here.
'[The Bible] is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.'
Does it say that in the Bible? Without any other authority how do we know which books to include in the Bible?
Well, obviously, as a Catholic, you can't. Protestants only it would seem.
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