BETH SHILOH
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
One of our authoritative Creeds goes as follows:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.
The Apostles' Creed, 6th century
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And another: "We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own glory."
The Scot's Confession, 1560 (John Knox) Chapter 1
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And another: 8.11 [We believe that] Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.
8.12 We reject the false doctrine, as though the church could and would have to acknowledge as a source of its proclamation, apart from and besides this one Word of God, still other events and powers, figures and truths, as God's revelation.
8.13 - "Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. 1:30.)
8.14 As Jesus Christ is God's assurance of the forgiveness of all our sins, so, in the same way and with the same seriousness he is also God's mighty claim upon our whole life. Through him befalls us a joyful deliverance from the godless fetters of this world for a free, grateful service to his creatures.
The Barmen Declaration, 1933 (Karl Barth)
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Our Beliefs:
Presbyterians are guided by Scripture, the Written Word of God, and by 13 Confessions, Creeds and Catechisms beginning with the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds (2-3rd cent), stretching through several affirmations of faith from the Reformation (16th cent), the Westminster Standards (Confession and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, 17th cent) to more modern and contemporary ones like the Confession of 1967, a Brief Statement of Faith (20th cent) and the Belhar Confession. Succinctly put, however, we believe:
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son -- that whosoever believes in him will have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
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We believe that in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God has transformed all creation (John 1, Romans 5). All too often the Church has suffered from an impoverished view of the person and work of Jesus Christ, guided unfortunately by philosophy and culture, rather than Scripture. The Apostle Paul says that 'in Christ--we are a new creation.' (2 Cor. 5:17) The issue is not whether in fact God has done this in Christ, but instead whether we experience, know, believe and see it. Sadly, all too often we do not. We live with a too small caricature of Jesus Christ. Escaping this requires the transformation of our minds--what the New Testament calls 'repentance.' (Romans 12) We think repentance means asking God to forgive us. That common understanding barely scratches the surface. Repentance really means the transformation of how we interpret, see the world, of how we respond, and who we believe ourselves to be because God has first loved us in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1, Eph. 1-2) This changes, or should, how we behave. We believe that people are restless by nature tragically seeking after that which they incorrectly desire. This desire is often wrong-headed. As C. S. Lewis once observed we are like children at the beach who are content to play in the mud behind the house in which we are staying, when what is on offer is the entire beach just across the street! God comes in Jesus Christ to give us reality, but what we cannot adequately put into words try as we may. Jesus Christ transforms everything (1 John). The Spirit then guides us into living into this new reality, in much the same way as living on land is different than swimming in a pool! (Gal. 5) We invite you to come visit us and learn more. You would not be alone, for more than two million people call the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) their spiritual home. Worshiping in 10,000 Presbyterian congregations throughout the United States, they engage the communities in which they worship, study, live and serve with God’s love.
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"In life and death we belong to God. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, And the communion of the Holy Spirit, we trust in the one Triune God, the Holy One of Israel, whom alone we worship and serve."
A Brief Statement of Faith, 1991, Sec. 1
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