CREED: I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY
According to the copy of the Apostle's Creed that I have before me, the punctuation of the next phrase is as follows: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;"
That is a little different than if it were written "I believe in God the Father, Almighty maker of heaven and earth, or a couple of other nuances if the commas were placed elsewhere, but for the sake of presentation I will disregard the possible puncuations and just comment on a couple of the implications as to the "So what?" in my subsequent behaviour.
First, I need to be reminded and remind any reader that the purpose of the Creed's formation was twofold. One, it stood to summarize the basic beliefs of the early Christians. Two, it declared what was false about other "creeds".
Having said this, I need now to look at the term Almighty, or "God the Father Almighty". When I was younger, maybe in my teens, or maybe as late as my "theological hair splitting" early adulthood, it was thought particularly clever to pose the following question: "Could God make a rock so big that He could not lift it?" The implication being of course, was his Almighty-ness limited either in the power to "create" or in His power to "move" what He created? Maybe it is of the same substance as "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" But the proper answer I think takes into the account the twofold purpose of the creed. The question, "Could God make a rock so big...etc. " comes from one who holds the same kind of view of God as the idolaters of the Roman and Greek world had. Their gods were only superhuman humans cavorting and larking about in various jealousies and contests, and various roles. The Creed declares our God, or God the Father in whom we believe, is not like these gods. He is ALL MIGHTY. There are no other gods, and He is not limited in Power or Strength, but only by His own character. Therefore, the answer to "Could He make...etc" is the same as "Could God Lie?" "Could He tolerate sin?" So, NO, He could not and would not set about any task as "small" as that- of showing off. To whom would He show off? Who would be impressed? How would such an act further the eternal purposes that He has in mind, either for this world and the human race or any other creature in the universe?
On the other hand when I state He is the Almighty Father, the maker of heaven and earth, I am declaring that because there is no on more Mighty, then there is no one or no thing that can prevent His will from being done, and nothing that He bids me to do, that will be impossible for me to accomplish. The same "power" that made heaven and earth, by the word of His mouth, is also there to do whatever else needs to be done. And that applies equally to Old Testament "miracles", or a virgin birth, or Resurrection, or making "new creatures" out of fallen wretched sinners.
The implications and ramifications are now endless, and while I could keep on spelling them out, the end "So what?" for me is simply this: If I really DO believe in such a God, such a Father, such an Almighty, such a Maker of heaven and earth, why do I not obey any command that comes from Him? Why do I not avail myself of that self same "power" to live a life set aside to His service? Why do I not tell every downcast soul, that such a One waits to enfold them into His Kingdom and Family; that such an Almighty One can meet their every need?
That I believe He is the Maker of heaven and earth, should open up a completely other topic, but the framers of the creed didn't think it necessary to expand on that. They may not have been faced with evolutionary theories, but they did have "myths" equally bizarre to confront. But whether the discussion would have revolved around Zeus or Prometheus, (or Dr seuss) or any other explanation of the mechanics of matter, the writers of the creed could state categorically, that it is God, that He is Almighty and that He created the heavens and the earth. Everything else brought to the discussion is secondary. The "how" doesn't matter, when it comes to living the Christian life. It may matter in coming to a "scientific" theory, a cohesive explanation that accounts for some of the observed contradictions in the relationships of atomic particles or whatever, but when scientists can't agree, why should I worry?(*1) So I believe in God the Father Almighty, and because I believe, I can act, and must act, in a way that is completely different than one who does not believe in any god, or who believes in a multiplicity of lesser gods, or even a god who is somehow equal to even one other god. My God is ALL MIGHTY, and He is MY Father, and He is OUR Father; by adoption and in a special relationship through Jesus, and to all of mankind through Creation.
Next installment "And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord:"
*1. 2005 celebrated 100 years since Einstein's declaration of the theory of relativity and Scientists believe they are now further away than ever from an unified field theory of the universe. Just mention quantum physics and "String" theory and see where they go.
According to the copy of the Apostle's Creed that I have before me, the punctuation of the next phrase is as follows: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;"
That is a little different than if it were written "I believe in God the Father, Almighty maker of heaven and earth, or a couple of other nuances if the commas were placed elsewhere, but for the sake of presentation I will disregard the possible puncuations and just comment on a couple of the implications as to the "So what?" in my subsequent behaviour.
First, I need to be reminded and remind any reader that the purpose of the Creed's formation was twofold. One, it stood to summarize the basic beliefs of the early Christians. Two, it declared what was false about other "creeds".
Having said this, I need now to look at the term Almighty, or "God the Father Almighty". When I was younger, maybe in my teens, or maybe as late as my "theological hair splitting" early adulthood, it was thought particularly clever to pose the following question: "Could God make a rock so big that He could not lift it?" The implication being of course, was his Almighty-ness limited either in the power to "create" or in His power to "move" what He created? Maybe it is of the same substance as "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" But the proper answer I think takes into the account the twofold purpose of the creed. The question, "Could God make a rock so big...etc. " comes from one who holds the same kind of view of God as the idolaters of the Roman and Greek world had. Their gods were only superhuman humans cavorting and larking about in various jealousies and contests, and various roles. The Creed declares our God, or God the Father in whom we believe, is not like these gods. He is ALL MIGHTY. There are no other gods, and He is not limited in Power or Strength, but only by His own character. Therefore, the answer to "Could He make...etc" is the same as "Could God Lie?" "Could He tolerate sin?" So, NO, He could not and would not set about any task as "small" as that- of showing off. To whom would He show off? Who would be impressed? How would such an act further the eternal purposes that He has in mind, either for this world and the human race or any other creature in the universe?
On the other hand when I state He is the Almighty Father, the maker of heaven and earth, I am declaring that because there is no on more Mighty, then there is no one or no thing that can prevent His will from being done, and nothing that He bids me to do, that will be impossible for me to accomplish. The same "power" that made heaven and earth, by the word of His mouth, is also there to do whatever else needs to be done. And that applies equally to Old Testament "miracles", or a virgin birth, or Resurrection, or making "new creatures" out of fallen wretched sinners.
The implications and ramifications are now endless, and while I could keep on spelling them out, the end "So what?" for me is simply this: If I really DO believe in such a God, such a Father, such an Almighty, such a Maker of heaven and earth, why do I not obey any command that comes from Him? Why do I not avail myself of that self same "power" to live a life set aside to His service? Why do I not tell every downcast soul, that such a One waits to enfold them into His Kingdom and Family; that such an Almighty One can meet their every need?
That I believe He is the Maker of heaven and earth, should open up a completely other topic, but the framers of the creed didn't think it necessary to expand on that. They may not have been faced with evolutionary theories, but they did have "myths" equally bizarre to confront. But whether the discussion would have revolved around Zeus or Prometheus, (or Dr seuss) or any other explanation of the mechanics of matter, the writers of the creed could state categorically, that it is God, that He is Almighty and that He created the heavens and the earth. Everything else brought to the discussion is secondary. The "how" doesn't matter, when it comes to living the Christian life. It may matter in coming to a "scientific" theory, a cohesive explanation that accounts for some of the observed contradictions in the relationships of atomic particles or whatever, but when scientists can't agree, why should I worry?(*1) So I believe in God the Father Almighty, and because I believe, I can act, and must act, in a way that is completely different than one who does not believe in any god, or who believes in a multiplicity of lesser gods, or even a god who is somehow equal to even one other god. My God is ALL MIGHTY, and He is MY Father, and He is OUR Father; by adoption and in a special relationship through Jesus, and to all of mankind through Creation.
Next installment "And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord:"
*1. 2005 celebrated 100 years since Einstein's declaration of the theory of relativity and Scientists believe they are now further away than ever from an unified field theory of the universe. Just mention quantum physics and "String" theory and see where they go.
posted by Mister A Muses | 3:24 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home