Identifying Christian Belief and Practice

 

If someone said, “I believe that the rules for the NFL are “x, y, and z” and someone else says, “No, you’re wrong, they are “a, b, and c”, only one of them is correct but they could both be wrong. Why is that? Because those who are the actual authorities over how the NFL is defined have clearly articulated the rules. The understanding of and articulation of, those rules are up to just anyone but those in authority.

In the same way, when one group of people who call themselves Christians say that Christian belief and practice is “x, y, and z” and another group says, “No, you’re wrong, they are “a, b, and c”, only one of them is correct but they could both be wrong. How is this resolved?

It is certainly not resolved by appealing to “well, the Bible says this”, or “well, this is the way we have always done it.” One cannot simply appeal to the Bible because sin the Protestant Reformation, the idea of private interpretation has become the presumed right of every believer. But this, in itself, is a presumption that may or may not be correct. And as far as antiquity of practice goes, simply because one branch of Christians has believed and practiced a certain thing for a long time does not make it true.

I argue that we are approaching the question from the wrong direction. If we start at the beginning, we end up in a very different place. Beginning with the belief that Jesus Christ is a real person who actually exists, we can build an interesting argument.

1)      Jesus taught his disciples specific truths.

2)       His disciples, becoming apostles, took those teachings and began to teach others across the known world.

3)      That teaching became known as ‘Christianity’ and was embraced by some and rejected by others.

4)      That teaching, over time, began to be twisted and maligned so that the leaders of the church (a hierarchy established by the apostles), needed to articulate, and identify what actually was Christian belief. We see this in the seven ecumenical councils of the first eight centuries of the church.

5)      Jesus promised his followers that he would not leave them alone but would give them the Holy Spirit to guide and protect them.

6)      Jesus promised his followers that hell would never prevail over the church.

So, we have to ask, because Jesus said and did these things, do we believe what he taught them about faith and practice, and do we practice these things ourselves?