Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site duke.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxt!mhuxr!ulysses!unc!mcnc!duke!nlt From: nlt@duke.UUCP (N. L. Tinkham) Newsgroups: net.religion.christian Subject: Re: the need for correct doctrine Message-ID: <6345@duke.UUCP> Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 12:36:20 EDT Article-I.D.: duke.6345 Posted: Thu Sep 26 12:36:20 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 29-Sep-85 04:15:49 EDT Organization: Duke University Lines: 67 > In a separate artical, Neuhaus notes that the editors of the _Lutheran > Perspective_ have stated that the Athanasian Creed "can be understood to > suggest that correct faith is a work by which we merit salvation." The > editors suggest that a council of Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, etc., > meet to "clean up the text". (For those not familiar with it, the > Athanasian Creed is a doctrinal statement about the Trinity and the > Incarnation. It dates from about 400 A.D.) > > The following seem like obvious questions for discussion: > > Is correct faith or correct doctrine necessary to salvation? > If so, to what extent? What differentiates an unbeliever from > a believer holding a "bad doctrine"? > > Should the Athanasian Creed be "cleaned up"? If so, what would you > change? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charli Phillips poses some interesting questions in his recent article concerning the Athanasian Creed in particular and correct doctrine in general. I will address these questions in reverse order. First, should the creed be changed, and how? I would strongly recommmend (had I the power to recommend things to councils) that the creed NOT be changed, even though I find some of its statements objectionable, for the following reason: Although the church (hopefully) grows in its understanding of God and his work on earth, it is not safe to trust our present understanding too completely as being the best possible description of Christian doctrine. All cultures and times have flaws and biases, our own included, and these flaws and biases can distort our understanding of God. One way to try to compensate for these biases is to compare our present understanding with the beliefs held by the church in different times and places. The creeds provide valuable information for making this comparison: they tell us what, in a given time and place, was considered to be orthodox by the church. To serve this purpose, it is important that they remain as they were when they were written. There is no value to comparing my beliefs against the ancient creeds if I have changed the creeds to reflect my own beliefs. On the other hand, it would be worthwhile, if it could be achieved, to have a council write a creed which expresses a 20th century understanding of the issues addressed in the Athanasian creed. I would insist, however, that the council be truly ecumenical: the Roman Catholic Church, all branches of Eastern Orthodoxy, and all branches of Protestantism should be represented. This would, of course, be difficult to achieve, but I think it is necessary in order for the writings produced by the council to be seen as authoritative in the sense of "this is what the 20th century church believed". The other questions, Is correct faith or correct doctrine necessary to salvation? If so, to what extent? What differentiates an unbeliever from a believer holding a "bad doctrine"? are much more difficult to answer. As a matter of fact, the statements in the Athanasian creed that I find the most troubling are those which claim that correct belief (particularly regarding the almost incomprehensible doctrine of the Trinity) is essential to salvation. Certainly, there are many doctrines which are not essential to salvation. There probably is a minimal core of beliefs without which a person is not justified in claiming the label "Christian". I do not have an answer regarding the salvation of someone who lacks these beliefs, as it requires insight into the mind of God which I lack: Is it enough that we live the best we can according to what we know, or does God require some specific work of us, such as Christian belief and commitment, or is it entirely a matter of God's grace and unrelated to any action of our own? I have no idea. N. L. Tinkham duke!nlt (Duke University)