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In Faith

Man: Soul, Spirit, Body

Author Jesse SteelePosted on

I authored this about nine years ago or so. It’s from my Doctrinal Statement. It contains some Greek, so you may need to install some fonts if letters don’t display correctly. As a language student, I opted to use a more distinguishable method of transliteration.

The “soul” (pseuchae/ψευχη) is redeemable (James 1:21) though sin lives in the “flesh”/physical body (sarx/σαρχ) (Romans 7:18-19). A spirit is not necessarily a being, it can be an emotion or atmosphere—“spirit of hate/joy [or something else positive or negative]” —(Jb 20:3, Pr 1:23, Is 4:4; 28:6, 57:15; 61:3, Hos 4:12, Rom 8:15a, 15b, 1 Cor 4:21, 2 Cor 4:13, Gal 6:1, Eph 1:17, 2 Tm 1:7, 1 Jn 4:6) “Spirit” (pneuma/πνευμα) also means “wind” in almost every sense, and is even taught in this way by Christ (John 3:8). The “soul” (pseuchae/ψευχη) is never referred to in any of these ways, but it is redeemable (as mentioned in James 1:21) and therefore eternal.

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In Faith

Statement of Faith

Author Jesse SteelePosted on

 

Statements of faith, doctrine, theology.. are all about explaining our view of God for the sake of each other. The goal is not to explain ourselves, but to explain the Lord.. together. Ultimately, God explains Himself to us.. together..

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Essence of Christianity
Salvation is by faith alone (Gen 15:6, Jn 3:18, Eph 2:8-9), in Christ alone (Acts 4:12, Jn 3:13-21, 14:6, 1 Jn 2:2), as He is revealed in Scripture alone (2 Tim 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Rev 22:18-19); the summary of all Biblical teaching is to love God with every part of your being, and love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:18, Deut 6:5, Micah 6:8, Mt 22:37-40, Mk 12:29-34, Lk 10:25-28); and the purpose of God’s commands is to expand abundant life to the world around us (Deut 5:33, 6:3, 15:4-5, Josh 1:8, Jer 29:11, Jn 10:10, 15:8, 1 Cor 3:11-15) because He loves us (1 Jn 4:10, Jer 31:3, Jn 15:13 cf 10:11, Gen 1:1-Rev 22:21).

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In Faith

Church Councils Notes

Author Jesse SteelePosted on

Compiled from First seven Ecumenical Councils and related linked articles from Wikipedia

First Council: First Nicaea 325

(Trinity, first Nicene Creed)

Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between Jesus Christ and God the Father. The council drew up a creed, the original Nicene Creed, which received nearly unanimous support. The council’s description of “God’s only-begotten Son”, Jesus Christ, as of the same substance with God the Father became a touchstone of Christian Trinitarianism. The Council was opposed by the Arians, and Constantine tried to reconcile Arius, after whom Arianism is named, with the Church.

 The council also addressed the issue of dating Easter (see Quartodecimanism andEaster controversy), recognised the right of the see of Alexandria to jurisdiction outside of its own province (by analogy with the jurisdiction exercised by Rome) and the prerogatives of the churches in Antioch and the other provinces and approved the custom by which Jerusalem was honoured, but without the metropolitan dignity.  · · · →