What Do Presbyterians Believe?
You will see a few common questions with some brief answers below. Keep in mind, people often understand Presbyterian beliefs differently.
Does that mean Presbyterians can’t agree on what they believe?
No, it simply means that one of our core beliefs is that “God alone is Lord of the conscience” meaning that ministers or councils don’t dictate to us what to believe.
Does scripture determine what we are to believe?
Presbyterians claim that the Bible is the word of God, but we also understand that it must be interpreted. Two people can read the same scripture and understand it differently because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
With that in mind, how do we keep from reading it however it best suits us?
Self-interested readings are a danger in any tradition; that’s why Presbyterians always do two things when we interpret scripture. First, we pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we read. Second, we read scripture with other people who can help us see our blind spots. Those ‘other people’ are sometimes scholars who’ve written commentaries on the scripture we’re reading. Sometimes they’re people from other cultures, and sometimes they’re our Christian brothers and sisters who live radically different lives. Above all, at Wynne Presbyterian we believe that any interpretation of scripture must be loving, so we do our best to interpret scripture through the lens of love. With the work of the Holy Spirit and in diverse community with others, we understand scripture through the examples of love we see through the life of Jesus Christ and how his love calls us to serve.
What about all your church words?
We find words in scripture that aren’t part of our everyday language. The same goes for some of the words we use in our worship. Here are a few words and phrases.
What’s incarnation?
It means “in the flesh”, as in God putting on skin to become a human in Jesus. It’s an act of love. Whatever flavor of Christianity, we all agree that in some way Jesus was reconciling the world to God—because “God so loved the world.” We celebrate Christ’s incarnation in the season of Advent.
What do you mean by Jesus paying the debt of our sin?
That’s what we call atonement and it describes Christ’s death on the cross. So, debt is one way scripture talks about it. That’s a legal/economic metaphor for what Jesus did when he died on the cross. There are other metaphors, too: overcoming the power of sin and death, paying a ransom, reconciling estranged parties, making sacrifices, restoring the fullness of humanity, and many others. Each way of describing it points us to remove whatever separates us from God. In Jesus, God has taken the initiative to end that separation. That’s love. That’s how we should always talk about God.
What does it mean to be separated from God, and why are we?
You could spend a lifetime answering those questions. Some have looked at the story of the garden of Eden and concluded that humanity had a “fall,” that is, we became a broken people through our disobedience. This is the interpretation Paul makes in one of his letters. In Christian history, the fall has been the most influential answer. Others look at the Bible and at their fellow humans and simply note that we live in a broken world without offering a reason why it happens. These questions demand more than quick and easy answers. We can only acknowledge that from the moment humans have had a chance to choose, we’ve often chosen to hurt each other. This action separates us from God and reveals our sin.
What is predestination, and do you believe in it?
Predestination is not the belief that everything we do in life has been pre-ordained. That’s predeterminism. Predestination is the belief that God has given us salvation even before we are born. There is nothing we can do to gain it or to lose it. Like our birth, it is simply a gift. So, yes, Presbyterians believe in predestination.
What do Presbyterians believe about the Bible?
We acknowledge that the Bible is conditioned by the times in which it was written. It is a revelation of God’s character, meaning that by reading scripture, particularly about Jesus, we can more fully know what God is like. If we look at Jesus, we discover that God cares about healing; we discover that God cares about the outcast; we discover that God cares about how we treat each other; we discover that God cares about us, God loves us.
Why do Presbyterians do what you do and believe what you believe?
The church has two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Why do you baptize babies?
We baptize our children because we believe God chooses them before they can ever make a choice for God. When they come to an age where they can make conscious choices about faith, we ask those children to confirm their baptism by making the same vows their parents made for them when they were young.
Do you have communion?
Yes. The Lord’s Supper, a sacrament that remembers the Passover meal Jesus ate with his disciples, is celebrated the first Sunday of each month at our 10:45 worship. The invitation to the Lord’s Supper is extended to all who desire to follow Christ, remembering that access to the communion table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a privilege given to the undeserving who come in faith, repentance, and love. Even one who has doubts or whose trust is wavering is invited to the table in order to be assured of God’s love and grace in Christ Jesus.
Do you believe churches should be involved in politics?
Wynne Presbyterian is a church where Democrats and Republicans, Independents, and apoliticals sit side by side in our pews. We do not embrace a particular political platform. (God alone is Lord of the conscience.) We do, however, believe that God is sovereign over every part of our life and that the demands of the gospel often cross over into areas where politics exist. We care for the poor and advocate for kinder treatment from governmental programs. We are called to serve Jesus Christ and that requires that we observe the world’s needs, study scripture, examine our bias, and discern our faithful witness at a particular time.