Greetings all,
Forgive the funny look on my face in the above video thumbnail. Our adult Sunday school class is currently going through a remote study of the Westney Catechism, a catechism on Christian doctrine written and published by Westney Baptist Church in Ajax, Ontario. Westney's theologian-in-residence is Craig Carter, whose books I have been reading recently in my doctoral studies.
I'm sharing the video because I love how this portion of the study lays out what I consider to be the most importance aspects of Christian teaching. I'm not suggesting that there is such a thing as "less important" teaching, but that, as Al Mohler has stated, Christians need to learn to do theological triage--that is, to distinguish between the foundational aspects of Christian doctrine and those other aspects that are secondary, and then focus most attention on the former. In this video, I work through the what I consider to be three of the main aspects of Christian teaching (what follows are not sentences from the catechism verbatim, but summary statements of my approach):
1. What is Scripture?
It is the revealed Word of God, written for our instruction, bearing out the message of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, so that lost people would come to know Him and thereby enter into eternal, joy-filled life with God. The Bible is bi-covenantal, meaning that it is written in two parts, both after God reveals himself to a chosen people - the Old Testament to Jewish prophets, and the New to messianic Jewish apostles who believed Jesus to be the promised Messiah. The Old employs typology and prophecy to predict and promise Jesus. The New demonstrates Jesus' coming, and interprets the typology and prophecy of the Old so that they make sense in Him.
2. What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
It means to believe the Bible's message because the Bible's goal is to reveal Jesus. Scripture is not a set of instructions more than it is a revelation of a Person so that lost people, in finding Him, would themselves be found (Lk. 15:5). You can't have Jesus without the Bible, nor can you know Jesus without the Bible. Why? First, because each gospel account - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - anchors Jesus' identity in the Old Testament (so we need the OT to understand and appreciate him); second, everywhere in the gospels, Jesus upholds the authority of the OT as the Word of God to which his followers are responsible (ie, Matt. 4:4); and third, He told His disciples that He would send them His Holy Spirit to keep fresh in their minds all that He said and did and to help them to understand the meaning of it all (Jn. 14:26, 16:13). Therefore, they wrote, and their inspired writing comprises the the New Testament. Jesus ties himself to His Word, because He is Himself the Living Word (Jn. 1:1), and as the church opens the Bible and proclaims Him, He still speaks (Heb. 12:25). There is no Christianity that doesn't take Biblical doctrine seriously.
3. Is there a place for creeds and confessions?
Yes, because we late modern Christians are not the first Christians. Rather, generation after generation of believers has come before us. Therefore, Paul passed down the teaching to Timothy who was then himself supposed to pass it down (2 Tim. 2:1-2). And Jesus prayed (and continues to intercede for) those who would believe the Apostles' message (see John 17:20-25), promising that He'd continue to lead them into His truth (17:26). It is good for believers to study and utilize the reflections on Scripture offered by previous generations.
That is why the Westney Catechism uses the Apostles Creed as a "convenient and reliable way to sum up the Biblical message." The creed is framed in orthodox Trinitarian terms (I'll make a few comments under some chosen sections):
Father
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth
-Notice that the Creator is a Father - creation was produced by the outflowing of the eternal loving relationship of the Son and the Father. Hence, all things being made through Christ, the Word (Jn. 1:1-4).
Son
I believe in Jesus, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried.
-Note, Jesus couldn't have had an earthly father involved in his conception, because sin would have passed to him since "all sinned" in Adam (Rom. 5:12, 19). Yes Eve was the deceived one (1 Tim. 2:13-14), but Adam was responsible, and sin passes through the dad. Hence, circumcision throughout the OT is a reminder of Adam's responsibility (and also the responsibility especially of dads). But Jesus had his mother Mary and his Heavenly Father, as the Holy Spirit conceived him in Mary.
He descended to the dead.
-Note, I like this rewording, from "He descended into hell." In one sense, He went through hell at the cross, and then went to the dead. 1 Peter 3:19ff is a difficult passage to use in support of a notion that Jesus went into hell after death, especially considering that he told the thief on the cross that He'd see him in paradise that same day (Lk. 23:43).
On the third day, he rose again; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
-Note, according to Daniel 7, the Son of Man receives the Kingdom when he appears before the heavenly throne. That's why He went back to heaven - having accomplished the work the Father gave him to do, He receives the Kingdom. And He thus sends out His Spirit to believers (Ac. 2:33), and they are transferred into His Kingdom (Col. 1:13-14). The Kingdom is not on earth yet in fullness, but it is present substantially in the church and among believers throughout the world.
Spirit
I believe in the Holy Spirit
-Note, all that is following is included under the heading of the Spirit, because it is all accomplished by the Spirit.
The holy catholic church
-That is, the universal church, wherever the true gospel is preached, believed, and lived.
The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, Amen.
-Thus, the church continues on 2000 years after Jesus established the New Covenant, with the saving message that binds Satan, redeems the world, and restores that which was lost in the Fall. All glory to God for what He continues to do!
