Does theology matter? Theology, in its most basic form, seeks to explain what we believe about God and His creation. The patristic period in early Christianity seems to have been a stormy world of “isms”—Docetism, Gnosticism, Donatism, Arianism, Pelagianism, Monarchianism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, mostly named after their leader. It should be no surprise that issues were identified with specific clergy. They were the educated ones at the top of the ecclesiastical food chain pulling supporters for their doctrinal interpretations with intense conviction among the uneducated. (Donatists actually became violent until Augustine’s side prevailed). The resulted early creeds reveal the forefathers’ struggle to remain faithful to solo scriptura, while grappling over the essentials that make our faith distinctively Christian. Perhaps that is the real power of the Apostles Creed, which seems to have served the common ground for a long time.
Doctrinal arguments certainly did not end with the patristic times or establishment of Creeds. Over the centuries we find a long laundry list of isms— Pietism, Calvinism, Arminianism, Molinism, just to name a few. We identify ideologies with places, people, and revivals like the Moravians, Great Awakenings, Cane Ridge Revival, Azuza Street Revival, Toronto Blessing, Brownsville Revival. Within the past century, we use “isms” and movements virtually synonymously—Faith-Cure Movement, Latter Rain Movement, Charismatic Movement, Word of Faith Movement, Third Wave Movement. It has a less “schismatic” feel to it if we call it a movement. Predictably, waves of critical and rebuttal polemics always accompany revivals, awakenings, and movements, and current ones are no exception.
Eccumenicals like the idea that in spite of differing streams of thought, though some push the boundaries of common doctrine and even cross over now and then, they are “big enough” to embrace those who are polar opposites of their tribe. They like to believe we are one in Christ all moving in the same direction—the Kingdom, but somehow that never quite works in practice. Let’s face it, we tend to stay in our own stream and sometimes venture into ones that are close enough for comfort. But when or how does the stream become cut off from the headwaters to the degree that it is a completely different river? When does a theological “ism” wander so far into the heretical neighborhood that it no longer qualifies as Christian? Is it possible to accept certain heretical beliefs and still be Christian? If so, which ones? What are the defining beliefs that separate Christians from non-Christians? And foremost, what does Scripture say about the opposition to core beliefs?
Tomes have been written to these questions, but for the sake of brevity, let’s go to the core of the matter. To be Christian—a follower of Christ—means to be wholly committed to following Him and His teachings and to grow in grace and truth. It means that we believe what He taught; follow His example in worship prayer; and love as He did. Christianity is about who Jesus is and who we are in Him as disciples and family. Believing implies knowing what He said and did, and what He said about Himself.
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Col. 2:6—12 NASB, emphasis added).
The crux of the matter is said in these six sentences. Jesus—the fullness of Deity—is the head, the leader, and we walk in resurrection power through faith in Him. We are complete in Him, lacking nothing. As much as we honor His followers—the likes of Luke, Paul, Peter, and James, and even leaders of the faith up to the present—real ones always point us to Jesus as the model of our faith. Furthermore, we have the promise of the Holy Spirit. In the words of Jesus, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).
Theology does matter when it comes to the heart of the faith. What we believe about Jesus determines how we navigate through this world and into the next—both Christian and non-Christian. So it has to matter. The “isms” we encounter that are about doctrines not related to the personhood and work of the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, separate the river into its tributaries, but still may be part of the river system flowing from the throne of God. We can have differences of doctrines concerning how we interpret such things as the millennial reign (premillenian, postmillennial, amillenial) without departing from Christianity. We can differ in the baptism formula (in the Name of Jesus only, or in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and still call one another brethren.
For the Christian, Jesus is both human and divine (John 1:1—5). We believe He was crucified, died, was resurrected from the dead. We believe He ascended into heaven where He intercedes on our behalf. We believe in the parousia, the second coming. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who leads and guides the Church. These things are non-negotiable. If doctrines do not draw water from the same source—the head of the Church, Jesus—they are not in His river regardless of what the followers call themselves. Pretty straightforward stuff.
We need discernment guided by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, no doubt about it. The ultimate test, however, is what do you believe about Jesus Christ? It’s not that hard. The gospel (good news) is simple and was never intended to be complicated. How else would we be able to believe and understand? Keeping the essentials in the forefront helps us love and even appreciate one another when our kayak is paddling down a different stream from the barge that is floating down another tributary of the same river.
Copyright 2015 Eva Benevento. All rights reserved.