CREDO IN UNUM DEUM

I received a nice email yesterday from a reader who asked what I believed. This wasn't a test of my orthodoxy. I'm an Anglican and for us "orthodoxy" covers a broad spectrum. Personally, I tend to fall on the more Catholic side of that spectrum, all with a sense of humor and knowing that what I know is at best only very slight and partial.

So, I replied with this Affirmation of Faith from my book, New Daily Prayer, www.newdailyprayer.net ( which you have to cut and paste into your address thingy above since the Link tab on this contraption doesn't seem to work) in case you'd like a copy but I'm not really here to be hawking books! The next reprint is in progress.) The text of this Affirmation is below.

I might add that while I am a follower of Jesus of Nazareth, whom we call the Christ or the Messiah, and affirm him as the full Incarnation of God (whatever that really means) I have no doubt that God has been present in the other great prophets and sages through out history with the exception of Joseph Smith who really wasn't either. I also buy into the doctrine of the Trinity as the best we humans can do to explain that which is unexplainable. Ultimately, God knows who He/She/It is which, I guess, is the most important part of it all.

In any event, here goes:


We believe in One God as revealed in the Scriptures
and the ancient Tradition
of the Catholic and Apostolic Church:
the Source of All, the Word made Flesh and Giver of Life;
the Wellspring of all life and mystery
who created and creates all things great and small
n the beauty of holiness.
We believe in Jesus Christ, God With Us,
who was born of Mary, lived, and was raised from the dead;
who reveals God’s heart of peace and forgiveness,
tenderness and compassion, power and might,
which is stronger than even death itself;
We believe in the Spirit who floods us with courage,
and empowers us to be God’s presence in the world.
We believe in our calling to respond to others
as God responds to all:
with mercy, hope, and Grace,
n trust and openness, wonder and joy, peace and simplicity
and in solidarity with the poor,
the marginalized and the outcast.
We rejoice in the new life which bread and wine,
water and oil communicate to us,
and that through them and in us, Jesus is truly present.
We participate in and await the fulfillment of God’s dominion,
in which all find their final rest in union with
the Source of All, the Word made Flesh,
and the Giver of Life,
who lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Rublev's Trinity