They will do no wrong; they will tell no lie. A deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths. – Zephaniah 3:13, The Bible
Sometime last year, the Songs of Praise did an episode on the Nicene Creed. Dear reader, if you are not familiar with Songs of Praise, it is a weekly TV show in the UK on the BBC. Imagine a Christian show informative and traditional enough for cosy Sunday afternoons with hymns that you can sing or hum along to. So there I was on a Sunday afternoon, passing the time with my mum. Me on my phone, most probably, and mum watching the show. Background tv which intermittently sparked my interest.
Now in the christian faith there are many a creed which, are statements summarising Christian beliefs created one time or another in the history of the faith. If you had the (mis) fortune of attending a catholic/ religious school which still held the practice of mass, you might be familiar with the Apostles’ Creed – “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth….”. Now the Nicene Creed goes like this, “We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty…”. When pushed, I can mumble my way through the Apostles’ Creed but for the life of me (even having attended many a non-voluntary school mass), I could not remember the Nicene Creed. So safe to say, as believer and history enthusiast, the show piqued my interest.
The show centered around a group of religious leaders representing different sects of Christianity speaking about the history and significance of the Nicene Creed. In the way that Sunday afternoon TV should be, it was cosy and warm in its telling of what is actually a very significant turning point in history. What struck me about the episode and period is why the creed was deemed necessary. See back in 318 AD, there was a rogue faction of the faith led by a guy called Arius which was peddling the idea that Jesus was not God but instead a heavenly servant of God. Now reader, you may or may not be familiar with Christianity, but the idea of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) is a fundamental doctrine of the faith. Once you undermine that, you get in tricky anti-monotheistic waters and heresy (subject to your flavour of Christianity). So you can imagine this guy Arius would have been causing a lot of problems for the church.
Now back in the day when the divisions of christianity were not as formalised as they are now (pre-Henry VIII, Martin Luther et al), you had ecumenical councils. These were a collective of bishops and church leaders of the Christian faith who met to agree and set the doctrines of the Christian church. Christianity as formalised and organised religion was in its infancy, and it had a few hard questions and topics to cover. The leaders discussed and published the findings of the councils and thereafter matters were settled (ish) (many a council were convened to iron out what seemed settled e.g. a few years later another council had to be summoned to tweak the Nicene Creed). Now following Arius’ tangents, a council was summoned to once and for all settle the question of the trinity and with that we have the birth of the Nicene Creed now repeated worldwide time and time again.
Reader, if you have limited interest in the history of Christianity, I may have lost you and you may already be back on instagram or wondering why people bother with this religion thing. If nothing else, it seems bit of headache to be checking every heretic that pops up and who is to say what is settled law one day cannot be overturned. Tangentially, wasn’t the Catholic Church wrong about Galileo re. the sun/earth? You may also be asking where this post is going – bear with me. The episode came to mind recently when reading the recent judgment handed down by Judge Fred Biery about Adrian and his 5-year-old son (incase of interest the judgment is here). Abit of background, earlier this year Adrian and his son Liam were detained as part of the ICE raids in Minnesota. As part of the arrest, Liam coming home from school, was used as bait to arrest others in the house. As you may expect and in keeping with the general reception of the ICE raids, Adrian and Liam’s story left a sour taste in many mouths. As the American legal system does, a judge was appointed to decide on the deportation of the two – enter Judge Biery. Judge Biery’s judgment which is tongue in cheek in its delivery of his decision, ordered their release. In between the judgment’s witticisms, is a civic lesson and an insight into some of his views about recent government activities. At the end of the decision are two bible verses and these bible verses are what led the recesses of mind to remember what was non-consequential background tv on a lazy afternoon.
See what I took of the Songs of Praise episode is a reminder of how Christianity has been forged in the fires of history. Please do not misunderstand me reader, I am not here to absolve my choice of religion from the atrocities done (and still being done) under its name and with the blessing of many a church leader. No reader, I will ask you to give me grace to remove from this topic the “discovery of land” meaning pillaging and murdering in the name of title acquisition and the “saving of heathens” meaning decimating culture and traumatising generations. I am talking more of the fires glimpsed in the book of Acts and the writings of the early martyrs. The fires where if you really hadn’t encountered the true Jesus, what was to come was not worth it. In the early days of church, there was severe persecution. Eventually, when Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman empire (itself through a lot of bloodshed and violence), the church still had a lot to settle. I reader take for granted how formalised my religion has become, but back in the day, there was not the luxury of mass produced bibles to check what was heresy and what was God’s true word. In the really early days, the bible as we know it now wasn’t even the bible. My faith was built on the Torah and the accounts of people who had met a man called Jesus who changed their lives. Through the Holy Spirit (and a healthy dose of persecution) the Good News spread. Reader, I will not recount the early history of the church; I would not do it justice and would sanitise the failures of men. To summarise my rumblings though, the church was still figuring itself out back in AD 318. Internal wrestles and wrangling in the faith necessitated councils to meet and really pin down what this thing called Christian was.
Reader, when I read the end of Judge Biery’s judgment and saw the referenced bible verses, I held tears back. It seemed that as formalised as we are, our Church and this thing called Christian is still wrestling to figure itself out. For me, it feels like thing called Christianity is still fighting to clarify where its lines are. I know this is not unique to any faith or religion reader or to any particular pocket of time. I imagine if the Africans who found themselves as slaves on the shores of the Americas, encountered the true Jesus, they would have queried what version of Christianity the slaves owners were peddling. This is also not unique to the US. In the UK marches are held by purported patriots spouting hatred for their neighbours but with Jesus’ words in the mouth. In Kenya, places of worship have become scenes for settling political scores rather than recounting His true word. Though the biblical bride doesn’t have an identity crisis, the earthly incarnation feels like it’s fighting for its life right about now.
Again, like many times before, Christianity and the church finds itself at a crossroad. Councils probably can no longer be called; would anything be agreed seeing how far (apart) we have become. So where to start? I tried to find another’s words which would succinctly share what I have in my heart with no luck so my own words will have to suffice (believing the Holy Spirit is working in them). It sounds silly but I hope (and I also know) God in the end wins and eventually we fail at sullying His bride. Until then, I guess we follow the example set by Judge Biery’s; practice your faith according to the words in His book. Win the war first in your life so you can be a torch to others. Eventually hopefully they’ll be enough people showing His light that the tide turns and we make a fitting bride for His return. Because turns out this faith thing starts with you and me before it reaches the institutional halls of religion and power.
Reader you may not share my faith but may feel the bleak winds blowing, a letter to encourage you and guide you on your way? E.B White to Mr Nadeau:
“Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.”
THE WEEK THAT WAS:
Words of note –
“Books are like that. If the right book enters your life at the wrong moment, it can leave you cold and underwhelmed. But at the right moment, it can change everything.” – Travelling While Black: Essays Inspired by a Life on the Move, Nanjala Nyabola
Thankful for –
- Sunny afternoons trying out new activities and living out His will
- New pretty nails
- Calamari
after the wilderness 