Ok, now here's the longer version. I agree whole heartedly with the following and by such standards I guess I am a fudamentalist evangelical:
1. I believe that the Bible is the uniquely inspired and inerrant Word of God and is fully binding on all matters of faith, doctrine, and practice. I also accept the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. (However, I believe a person can be a christian and not hold to this.)
2. I believe in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, which says, specifically: that there is one and only one God--eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, triune; that within the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons, co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and that these three Persons are the one God. They are the infinite and eternal mystery of the trinity which cannot be fully explained or fully understood, but only declared. (It is more vast than our finite minds can grasp. Furthermore, I believe God is not torn between multiple personalities nor is the trinity ever in disagreement. In fact, there is a complete unity in purpose, vision and desire within the trinity. To believe otherwise, I believe, is to believe in three gods instead of One.)
3. I believe in the preexistence and full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, who through the Incarnation became man without ceasing to be God, being at the same time both God and man, fully human and fully divine, in one Person.
4. I believe in the historic Virgin Birth of Jesus, the prophesied Messiah of the Old Testament, His sinless life, His death on the cross for our sins, His burial, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into Heaven, according to the Scriptures.
5. I believe that as a result of the historic, space-time Fall in the Garden of Eden, man became a sinner and hopelessly separated from God; that Jesus Christ is the only provision for atonement for sin and reconciliation to God; that without the new birth no man will see the kingdom of God, and because of God's grace, not his own works, man is justified by faith alone in the finished work of Christ; and that on the coming Day of Judgment all men will be resurrected bodily--the saved to enjoy eternal life with God, and the unsaved to face an eternal, righteous punishment in Hell.
6. I believe in and practice baptism by immersion, and I celebrate the Lord's Supper. (Also I believe in the preisthood of all believers and that the church of Christ role on earth is to serve 1) other believers 2) the lost and dying world by sharing the love and Gospel of Jesus.)
7. I believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, in which He will personally and visibly return from Heaven to judge the living and the dead, and although no man can know the day, hour, or year, His return is imminent.
8. I believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, through whom all believers are justified, regenerated, and sanctified, Who is given to the Church to produce both fruit and gifts in its members, and that He makes it possible for a person who believes in Christ to live a godly life in this present fallen world.
9. I believe that all Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit upon their regeneration, and that all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are valid for today's Church.
10. I believe in the spiritual unity of all true believers in Christ; and that these believers, who are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, are thus recognized as His Church.
However, I also believe the following thus in some's views I am an ecclectic christian liberal:
1. I believe that the only difference between magic/psycic type occurances and miracles/prophecy type occurences is the source.
2. I do not believe Satan and God are equals.
3. I believe persons who do not believe in the trinity can still be christians. Yet, only if they do not deny the divinity of any member of the trinity.
4. I do not believe in any one denomination. I believe all of them are man made and they all have flaws. Likewise, we are all human thus we shall never "know it all". The reality is God and his ways are so beyond us we will never learn all of the truth til the next life.
5. I believe one should never believe someone just because it was they who said it. No, the wise individual always seeks as much info as he can get before adopting something as true. Likewise, you have to hear both sides before you can make an educated descision.
6. I believe God likes questions and it is those who diligently seek Him who find out the truth.
7. I believe you can seek God before believing in Him.
8.I believe truth is not and can not be relative (although points of view and opinions can and are).
9. I believe in both the predestination and the free will of mankind.
10. Like C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, I believe that their is some truth in most if not all religious and philosophical systems yet there is only one correct path.
11. I believe eternal life is
knowing God. Thus, it starts in this life.
12. I believe nature is alive and that myths are based on reality.
13. I believe in Jesus because the Bible testifies to him (and it has stood the test of time), and I believe in the Bible because Jesus testified of (validated) it. Not because any man made organized religion has said to.
14. I believe there is only one belief that is necessary for salvation. I stated it in my previous post. Yet to reiterate breifly, the issue is do I as an individual believe in Jesus as my Savior and Lord. If, yes I am saved. If no, I am not.
15. I believe faith with out works is dead and that it is God who works and wills within us to do his good pleasure. In other words the value of good deeds is found in the fact that those good deeds are the expression of God working in and through us.
I'll stop here and finish by saying that I have many freinds of other non-christian faiths, one of which has a doctorate in Islamic theology. I like to discuss varying beliefs and I respect those who know what they believe.
