{"id":1246,"date":"2006-08-15T04:20:27","date_gmt":"2006-08-15T04:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2006\/08\/emerging-and-orthodoxy-2.html"},"modified":"2006-08-15T04:20:27","modified_gmt":"2006-08-15T04:20:27","slug":"emerging-and-orthodoxy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2006\/08\/emerging-and-orthodoxy-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Emerging and Orthodoxy 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word “orthodoxy” is slippery today, and many use it for something more than the historic creeds<\/a>. Orthodoxy refers to the faith statements of the classical creeds. “Heresy” refers to teachings contrary to those creeds. This week we are exploring how orthodoxy (and the creeds) relate to the emerging church movement. Today we will observe that creedal kinds of statements were part of the Church from the beginning. There was articulable content<\/em> to the faith.
\nHere’s the question: Is it possible to speak of “Christian faith” or “gospel” without some kind of basic articulation? And there is a chaser to the first question: What did those earliest creed-like statements concern themselves with?
\nFirst, contrary to what some suggest, there were creedal formulations in the Bible<\/em>. The impulse to “articulate the faith” emerged very, very early. Check out these references. Many think these texts were “liturgical” or “confessional” bits, and the main reasons are (1) atypical vocabulary for an author and (2) poetic, liturgical-like lines.
\nDeut. 6:4-9<\/strong> (the Shema): “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
\nRomans 4:24-25<\/strong>:
\nIt will be reckoned to us who believe in him
\nwho raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
\nwho was handed over to death for our trespasses and
\nwho was raised for our justification.
\nRomans 10:9-10<\/strong>
\nbecause if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord
\nand believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
\nyou will be saved.
\nFor one believes with the heart and so is justified,
\nand one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
\nPhil. 2:6-11<\/strong>
\nwho, though he was in the form of God,
\ndid not regard equality with God
\nas something to be exploited,
\nbut emptied himself,
\ntaking the form of a slave,
\nbeing born in human likeness.
\nAnd being found in human form,
\nhe humbled himself
\nand became obedient to the point of death\u2014
\neven death on a cross.
\nTherefore God also highly exalted him
\nand gave him the name
\nthat is above every name,
\nso that at the name of Jesus
\nevery knee should bend,
\nin heaven and on earth and under the earth,
\nand every tongue should confess
\nthat Jesus Christ is Lord,
\nto the glory of God the Father
\n1 Corinthians 8:4-6<\/strong>
\nyet for us there is one God, the Father,
\nfrom whom are all things and for whom we exist,
\nand one Lord, Jesus Christ,
\nthrough whom are all things and through whom we exist.
\n1 Corinthians 15:3-5<\/strong>
\nFor I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received:
\nthat Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,
\nand that he was buried,
\nand that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,
\nand that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
\n1 Tim. 2:5<\/strong>
\nthere is one God;
\nthere is also one mediator between God and humankind,
\nChrist Jesus, himself human,
\n1 Tim. 3:16<\/strong>
\nHe was revealed in flesh,
\nvindicated in spirit,
\nseen by angels,
\nproclaimed among Gentiles,
\nbelieved in throughout the world,
\ntaken up in glory.
\n1 Thess. 4:14<\/strong>
\nFor since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
\neven so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
\n1 Peter 3:18-22<\/strong>
\nFor Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
\nthe righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.
\nHe was put to death in the flesh,
\nbut made alive in the spirit,
\n(in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you\u2014not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience)
\nthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
\nwho has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,
\nwith angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
\n1 John 4:15; 5:1, 5<\/strong>
\nGod abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.
\nEveryone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.
\nWho is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
\nWe could go on. But, there are already in the NT the beginnings of creedal formulations to express the core content of the Christian faith.
\nThese creed-like NT statements gave rise to the classical creeds. The classical creeds are not inspired; they are not infallible<\/em>. Instead, they are claims made by wide segments of the Church that say these statements express what the Church thinks is at the heart of the Bible in light of challenges to the faith. Creeds were used for confession at baptism and in liturgy, they were used for instruction in the faith, and they were useful for theological debates.
\nSo, where we have it: early NT creeds grew into the major creeds (Nicea onwards). Today there is another issue.
\nSecond, and this could be post of its own, I think we can fairly say there are a variety of orthodoxies today, and each of these groups has its own definition of “orthodoxy”: <\/em>
\n1. Creedal orthodoxy (affirm classical creeds).
\n2. Eastern orthodoxy (in fellowship with an Eastern church and affirm its orthodoxy)
\n3. Roman Catholic orthodoxy (in fellowship with the RCC and affirm its expressions of faith)
\n4. Protestant orthodoxy (in fellowship with the Protestant church and affirm the four solas: scripture, faith, and grace — and some now add “Christ” and “glory of God”).
\n5. Evangelical orthodoxy (in fellowship with an evangelical church and affirm its central features like personal conversion, authority of Scripture, the centrality of the cross, and evangelism).
\n6. Some denominational orthodoxy (in fellowship with a particular church and affirm its doctrinal statement).
\nIn our next post we will look at the emerging movement and creeds. Where does it fit in all this?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The word “orthodoxy” is slippery today, and many use it for something more than the historic creeds. Orthodoxy refers to the faith statements of the classical creeds. “Heresy” refers to teachings contrary to those creeds. This week we are exploring how orthodoxy (and the creeds) relate to the emerging church movement. Today we will observe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-missional","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nEmerging and Orthodoxy 2 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2006\/08\/emerging-and-orthodoxy-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emerging and Orthodoxy 2 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The word “orthodoxy” is slippery today, and many use it for something more than the historic creeds. 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