“On essentials unity” is a phrase you have heard me say a lot. Basically, it means that we need to agree upon the universally accepted doctrines of the Christian faith. What has been universally agreed upon by Christians regarding creation? The classic creeds!
Two of the universally accepted creeds are the Apostles and Nicene Creeds. The Christian leaders in the first 500 years, which both developed and agreed upon these creeds, were very wise. They realized that there was room for interpretation on the details of the Genesis account. This is why they only placed very broad statements of creation into the creeds.
Apostles Creed – “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”
Nicene Creed – “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
That’s it!
The classic Christian church (the Church of the first 1000 years or so), recognized very clearly, that Christians should believe in the FACT of creation. Namely, that God created all things. However, they made it very clear that Christians were not required to agree on the details of creation. Christians have freedom to think what they want about, “HOW” God chose to create, or “how long” he developed his creation to get it to the present form.
Today, we know of many Christian groups that require you to believe in a certain viewpoint about the age of the earth and how God created. However, these Christians have turned a non-essential into an essential. They are out of step with the classic Christian perspective.
Christianity in America needs a revitalization of the classic Christian perspective. This would help us all navigate this modern world well, while simultaneously giving our Christians brothers and sisters room enough to pursue what they think is the best viewpoint to take on the details.
Pastor Isaac