While living as committed Christians and followers of Jesus
Christ, Presbyterians hold some beliefs which are different from what other
Christians believe. A while back, the Presbyterians Today
magazine cited eight such belief differences in an article by Presbyterian
pastor James Ayers.
Where do you stand on each of these eight topics?
1.) Fate or Predestination. Some
people believe that every event is caused by previous events. If so, they
say, it is an illusion to suppose that your decisions actually change things in
your life. So, if you do a good deed, that is what you are fated to
do. If you do something evil, that is just the outworking of your
predetermined fate. This is very different from the Presbyterian Doctrine
of Predestination, which says God chose us before the world was formed, and
that we are predestined to freely make choices in our lives. We may be
making choices every day of our lives. Presbyterian Predestination
teaches us that God has given us a big and important freedom ---- the freedom
to make the choices (good or bad) which will fulfill our own destinies as we
understand them.
2.) Purgatory, Heaven, Hell.
Where do people go when they die? Many people say to
"Heaven or Hell". Beginning in the Middle Ages, people thought
that Heaven was where the Saints stand in the Holy presence of God, and that
Hell is where the wicked are sent. What about those people who have not
had a chance to have all their sins forgiven by their priest before their
death? Their lives would still be impure when they died, so how could
they exist in Heaven, alongside the Holiness of God? Thus, the doctrine
of purgatory was created ---- a place where any sins not forgiven by the
priest on behalf of God since the last confession, would be purged.
However, Presbyterians believe God will indeed redeem us and cleanse us
from all our sins, and that we will be readied for Heaven, without
needing to postulate a third possible place to go when we die.
3.) Reincarnation or Eternal Life?
Some Eastern religions say that after we die, we are re-born as another person
or as an animal. They believe that the world is in an endless cycle of
death and re-birth. 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 directly
toward eternal life in the presence of God. Think about it ---- isn't
belief in reincarnation just a severe form of believing in showing
righteousness through one's works, as one lives over and over until we have
attained a certain level of goodness in our works?.
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. But,
Presbyterians believe the sacrifice of Christ has already been offered once and
for all. The sacrifice needs no repetition, and the action of the 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
Presbyterian communion tables are rather ornate, the table itself holds no
significance or holiness for Presbyterians.
5.) Ranking of Sins. In Roman
Catholic thinking, when one dies the person is carrying the guilt of all the
sins they have committed since their last confession. If one's sins are
venial (relatively slight), one now works them off in Purgatory. An
un-confessed mortal sin means one is damned to Hell. But,
Presbyterians do not believe that sins can be graded this way because sin is
sin.
Forgiveness of sins is God's freeing gift in Christ's
crucifixion. Confession and assurance of pardon by a priest are not what
enable God to forgive us, say the Presbyterians. Rather, it requires
direct confession to God when we confess our sins. This enables us to
recognize or feel or experience that we are forgiven.
6.) 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 are all sinners from the time of our birth, no one is ever
good enough on their own to deserve salvation. We are saved only
through God's grace. Despite our failures in life, God has already
decided to save us as evidenced through the death and resurrection of Jesus,
and the gift to us of the Holy Spirit.
7.) To Whom Do We Direct Our
Prayers? When we have problems we may ask our friends to
pray for us. But, why restrict oneself to present-day friends? Why
not also ask distinguished Christians from previous centuries to offer up
their intercessions on our behalf? This is perhaps the most positive way
to think about praying to the Saints. Yet, there is a problem here.
Asking Mary (the mother of Jesus) or Saint Joan of Arc to pray about you
becomes a prayer to Mary or Saint Joan. But prayer is an
act of devotion and worship, and Presbyterians believe our prayers should only
be offered to God.
8.) Authority Figures. Where is
the authority of the Church based? Our differing understandings of
appropriate church governance are perhaps the greatest source of disagreements
among Christians. We have different ways of ordering our lives together
as communities of faith. Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and
Episcopal churches believe that temporal authority 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 in this way. Instead, church leaders are elected, but can
declare the will of God only on the authority of Scripture. However,
Presbyterians are on record that their way is not the way, but simply
the way that works best for them.
Now that you have taken this 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 Spring at CPC.
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