This was originally written for LRBC for September 24th, 2023
It is sometimes complained that Christian creeds are restrictive and obstruct creative theological thinking. Creeds, such as the Chalcedonian Creed of AD 451, resulted from Christian leaders and thinkers hammering out answers to important but tricky questions surrounding the person of Jesus as they wrestled with how he is both human and divine.
The statement that they produced didn’t answer all of the Christological questions that could be asked, but it provided a framework within which further reflection could take place without messing things up theologically and spiritually.
The statements of the creed were like safety rails. “Restrictive” is hardly an appropriate word, especially if you don’t match up to the thinkers who formulated the statements!
I have wondered sometimes if it would be valuable to have a well-thought-out creed affirming how we can safely consider our experiences of suffering and disappointment.
It is not a topic that we normally think deeply about until it crashes into our personal world, but ideally, we should be theologically and spiritually prepared for it when it comes.
What might be the “safety rails” we ought to work within? I can suggest a few simple ones, derived from some basic Christian teachings.
In light of experiences of hardship and suffering, remember:
God is sovereign: nothing happens that is outside of his control.
God is omniscient: nothing happens that surprises him.
God is wise: nothing happens that stumps his purposes.
God is good: God does care, and he does not abandon his people.
God is at work: nothing happens that does not have some purpose.
God is the Judge: humans are responsible for their choices and actions.
God is incarnate: In Jesus, God has stood with his people and for his people.
Fall: Don’t expect things to be too good in the present.
Hope: Do expect things to be very good in the future.
Faith: Trust that God is all these things.
Love: We are obligated to our neighbour as fellow image-bearers of God.
Community: We weep with our Christian brothers and sisters who weep.
Discipleship: Part of Christian formation is loving God in and despite suffering.
No doubt things could be added to this list or formulated more precisely or expanded more helpfully. But these are the sorts of things we should not transgress when we reflect on experiences of hardship and despair. We should know these things to be true, and even when we can’t make easy sense of what is going on in our world, we can know that these things are true, and trust that the answers are somewhere within those safety rails.
Chris Northcott 