Our Beliefs

[ The Apostles' Creed ] [ The Nicene Creed ] [ Why Reformed? ] [ Why Presbyterian? ]

Church of the Redeemer is at the same time catholic, evangelical and reformed. When we say “catholic,” we don't mean Roman Catholic. We mean that we share beliefs that are “universal,” not restricted to the church of one nation or denomination. These truths have been held by the true Christian church of all ages.

Our catholic beliefs can be summarized in the following two creeds:

The Apostles' Creed¹

Nicene Creed²

Our evangelical beliefs are what mark us out as preaching the “gospel,” which comes from the NT greek word euangelion. These can be summarized with the following:

	Man is sinful and in need of transformation.
	The Bible is without fault (inerrant) in its original manuscripts.
	Salvation from our sin comes only through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
	We see reality in light of scripture, rather than looking at scripture in light of reality as we understand it. (We do not discount miracles, supernatural healings and acts of God that are beyond rational explanation simply because they cannot be explained.)

FOOTNOTES

¹Although not written by the apostles, the Apostles' Creed is a concise summary of their teachings. It originated as a baptismal confession, probably in the second century, and developed into its present form by the sixth or seventh century.

² The Nicene Creed originated at the Council of Nicea (325), and an expanded formula was adopted by the Council of Chalcedon (451). It was formulated to answer heresies that denied the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity and of the dual nature of Christ.