“I believe in the Father almighty, and in Jesus Christ, our Savior; and in the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, in the holy Church, and in the remission of sins.” – The earliest known Christian creed, 150-180 AD.
When I was a kid, my paternal grandfather was admitted to what was the first and largest leprosarium in the country located in Carville, Louisiana. We would visit him regularly, making the trek down I-10 from Houston. Those trips took me further than I’d ever been from home.
I came to measure the trip by two bridges. First, the climb up the Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles (easily the scariest bridge in Louisiana) would announce that we’d entered the Pelican State, and then, the beautiful Horace Wilkinson Bridge that carried us over the mighty Mississippi River at Baton Rouge signaled that we were almost there.
Between those two bridges were hours of mind-numbing boredom speeding down an elevated Interstate that enabled us to glide over the swamplands of southern Louisiana. The highway exits were few and far between.
“Who lives here,” I would ask my Dad. “Nobody,” he’d say, “It’s just swamp.”
I now know better. There are thousands, if not millions, of species of insects, fish, and mammals that thrive in the swamps of Louisiana, watched over by a smattering and rather unique breed of humans.
But to my prepubescent mind the contrast between the swamplands and the mighty river was stark. One was full of movement and commerce and life, the other stagnant and sparse and inhospitable. The river was full of beauty and wonder. The swamp seemed to be the opposite, desolate and unwelcoming. The city lights reflecting off the river surface pulled you in, while the swamp’s dark shadows warned you of the dangers of trespassing.
It struck me then, as it does now, that the only difference between the swamp and the river is the boundary that contains it. The river has strong, hard boundaries that are slow to change, while the swamp’s boundaries are amorphous and ever yielding. The difference boundaries make is paramount.
Your faith is similar. Essential theological beliefs are the boundaries that fashion a powerful and effective river of faith. Theological boundaries that are firm and slow to change form the river banks that produce a beautiful and powerful faith, full of life and commerce. Theological boundaries that are weak, amorphous, and ever-changing create a faith that is anemic, ineffectual, and swampy.
The key to building a faith that runs like a great and powerful river is to line it with essential theological beliefs without overwhelming it with so many essential beliefs that the river narrows to a small and vulnerable creek.
A healthy faith walks a fine line. Too few essential theological beliefs and you find yourself wallowing in the swamp; too many, and you are languishing in a dried up ditch.
Notice that I am not referring to Biblical or theological beliefs in general – a healthy faith can have many theological opinions on an endless number of subjects – I am referring specifically to essential theological beliefs. Essential theological beliefs are those that are used for both self identity and corporate unity.
So, what are the essential theological beliefs that fashion your faith into a mighty river? Allow me to suggest the five theological beliefs that have historically forged a healthy and thriving faith no matter the cultural forces working against it.
God
There is only one, eternal, and uncreated God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
Jesus
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, who was born of a virgin and is of the same essence with the Father.
Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and completes the Divine Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three Persons.
Salvation
All humankind has been separated from God by sin. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the price of sin, and conquered both sin and death when he rose again on the third day. In Christ, humans can once again be in a perfect and unhindered relationship with God, the Father.
Eschatology
After his death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven, is now sitting at the right hand of the throne of God, interceding for his Church and returning one day to judge the living and the dead.
That’s it. Those are the essential, irreducible minimum theological beliefs of the Christian faith. These are also the essentials featured in most Christian creeds throughout the centuries.
Biblical beliefs about other issues, while not unimportant, are secondary and open to interpretation and debate. In fact, the early Christian Church debated even these essentials for almost 300 years after Jesus before they finally codified them in a series of Church Councils in the fourth century AD.
If you don’t include these you run the risk of living in an inhabitable swamp. If you add too many more as essential, you run the risk of narrowing your river banks to the point of becoming a weak, dried up creek.
The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
This insight was written by Dr. Ellis Orozco. Dr. Orozco served in ministry as a pastor for 30 years. He is the founder and CEO of Karooso Ministries and the Public Theologian in Residence at Stark College & Seminary.