Recently, a Presbyterian pastor named James Ayers wrote in Presbyterians
Today a helpful story entitled "What Presbyterians DON'T
Believe." He cited eight ways in which Presbyterians, while
generally being committed Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, hold some
beliefs different from what some other Christians believe.
Let's take a moment to test ourselves. Where do you
stand on each of these eight topics?
1.) Good works or grace?
Conventional wisdom says that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to
Hell. Are you good enough for Heaven? Are you sufficiently
righteous to go to Heaven when you die? Presbyterians have always
insisted that, as we all are sinners at birth, no one is
good enough to deserve salvation on their own, regardless of their life-time
good works. We are saved only by God's grace. Despite our
failures in life, God already has decided to save us as evidenced through the
incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Presbyterians believe that everything we do is a response to
what God has done. Anything we have to offer is a response to God's own
offering of himself in Jesus Christ. We do not earn that love ---- it is
given freely. We live in gratitude for God's grace. We love because
God first loved us. And it's that love ---- that gratitude ---- that
sends us out into the world to give back, to work for a society that shares in
the liberation, dignity, justice and grace given to us through and in Christ.
2.) Fate or pre-destination? Some
believe that every event may be caused by previous events. If so, they say, it
is an illusion to suppose that your decisions actually change anything.
If you do a good deed, that is what you were fated to do. If you do
something evil, that is just the outworking of your pre-deterined fate.
This is different from the Presbyterian doctrine of pre-destination, which says
God chose to redeem us, long before we could even understand what that might
mean. Because God chose us before the formation of the world, that means
we are pre-destined to life. That does not take away from our freedom or
ability to choose ---- we make many free choices every day.
Predestination teaches us that God has given us a new and bigger freedom ----
the freedom to fulfill our personal destiny.
3.) Reincarnation or eternal life?
Some Eastern religions say that after we die, we are reborn as another person
or as an animal. They believe that the world is an endless cycle of death
and rebirth. Therefore, that one continually gets "another
chance" until we finally get it right. Presbyterians believe that
Scripture does not teach reincarnation. Instead, it points us toward
eternal life in the presence of God. Think about it ---- isn't belief in
reincarnation a very severe form of believing in righteousness by one's works,
as one lives over and over until we have attained a certain level of
goodness?
4.) Alter or table? An alter is a
place where a sacrifice is offered, and it is often viewed with special
reverence. In the traditional Roman Catholic understanding, during Mass the
priest re-offers Christ on the alter as a sacrifice to God. Presbyterians
believe the sacrifice of Christ has already been offered once and for
all. The sacrifice needs no repetition, and the action of a priest cannot
make it occur again. Therefore, Presbyterians see the Lord's Supper as
taking place at a table, rather than at an alter. Although many communion
tables are rather ornate, the table itself holds no particular significance or
holiness.
5.) Purgatory, Heaven, Hell.
Where do people go when they die? Many people would say "Heaven or
Hell." Yet in the Middle Ages people thought that if Heaven is where
the saints stand in the holy presence of God, and Hell is where the wicked are
sent, what about all of us sinners who have been forgiven? Our lives are
still impure when we die, so how can we exist in Heaven, along side the
holiness of God? Thus the doctrine of Purgatory was created ---- a place
where the remainders of our sinfulness would be purged. Presbyterians
believe God will indeed redeem us and cleanse us from all of our sins, and we
will be readied for Heaven, without needing to postulate going to a third
possible place when we die.
6.) Authority figures. Where is
the authority of the church based? Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist
and Episcopal churches believe it is carried in the office of the Bishop.
The doctrine of the "historic succession of Bishops" means that
Bishops receive their authority from previous Bishops, all of whom received
their authority from still earlier Bishops. Catholics and some Anglicans
trace this authority back to the Apostles themselves. Presbyterians
believe church authority is not carried in individuals this way. Instead,
church leaders can declare the will of God merely on the authority of Scripture.
7.) To whom do we pray? When you
have problems, you may ask your friends to pray for you. But why restrict
yourself to present-day friends? Why not also ask radiant Christians from
previous centuries to offer up their intercessions on your behalf? This
is perhaps the most positive way to think of praying to the saints. Yet,
there is a problem here. Asking Mary (the mother of Jesus) or Saint Joan
to pray for you becomes praying to Mary or Saint Joan. But praying
is an act of worship and devotion, and this should be offered only to God.
8.) Ranking Sins. In Roman
Catholic thinking, when you die you are carrying the guilt of all the sins you
have committed since your last confession. If your sins are venial
(relatively light), you will now work them off in Purgatory. A mortal
sin, in contrast, cannot be resolved in Purgatory. An unconfessed mortal
sin means you are damned to Hell. Presbyterians do not believe that sins
can be graded this way. Sin is sin. Forgiveness is God's free gift
in Christ. Confession and assurance of pardon are not what enable God to
forgive us, but rather what enables us to recognize or feel or
experience that we are forgiven.
As Pastor Ayers says, these eight brief explanations are not
meant to antagonize people of other faith traditions. Rather, they are
intended simply to mark off some of the distinguishing features of being a
Presbyterian.
Now that you have taken the test, how
"Presbyterian" do you think you are?
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal
spiritual growth this winter at CPC.
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