What is the difference between core Christian beliefs from other beliefs?

The differences between core beliefs and peripheral beliefs of the Christian faith, and the importance of teaching these differences to your children. A core truth could be defined as beliefs that separate a Christian from a non-Christian. These would be the tenets of the faith that are necessary in order to even be classified as a Christian.

It’s important to distinguish between the core beliefs necessary to come to faith in Christ and heretical beliefs. A heresy is a belief that is at odds with what is generally accepted, like the idea that Jesus was just a good teacher and not really God.

Denominational beliefs would be closer to what we define as peripheral beliefs. Peripheral beliefs are aspects of the Christian faith that do not have a direct bearing on a person’s salvation. For example, you have to speak in tongues to be born again, when is the millennial reign going to take place? when should someone be baptized? Should Christians eat meat? Are you a Calvinist or an Arminian? etc.

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What is the difference between core Christian beliefs from other beliefs?

Sources of Core Christian Beliefs

1. Scripture- It is the ultimate authority.

The Bible is the way God chose to communicate with the world; it communicates the core tenets that define the Christian faith, and it serves as “a light unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105b).

2. Ecumenical Creeds which were developed based on Scripture. (Athanasian Creed, Nicene Creed, Apostles’ Creed)

• Athanasian Creed– This creed is named after Athanasius (A.D. 293-373), the champion of orthodoxy against Arian attacks on the doctrine of the Trinity. Although Athanasius did not write this creed and it is improperly named after him, the name persists because, until the seventeenth century, it was commonly ascribed to him. It is not from Greek (Eastern), but from Latin (Western) origin, and is not recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church today. Apart from the opening and closing sentences, this creed consists of two parts, the first setting forth the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, and the second dealing chiefly with the incarnation and the two-natures doctrine. This creed, though more explicit and advanced theologically than the Apostles and the Nicene creeds, does not possess their simplicity, spontaneity, and majesty.

• Nicene Creed- The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism. These heresies, which disturbed the church during the fourth century, concerned the doctrine of the Trinity and of the person of Christ. Both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) churches held this creed in honor, though with one important difference: the Western church insisted on the inclusion of the phrase and the Son (known as the filioque) in the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit; this phrase still is repudiated by the Eastern Orthodox church. In its present form, this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with aliitions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381). It was accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but the filioque phrase was not alied until 589. However, the creed is in substance an accurate and majestic formulation of the Nicene faith.

• Apostles’ Creed– This creed is called the Apostles’ Creed not because it was produced by the apostles themselves but because it contains a brief summary of their teachings. It sets forth their doctrine “in sublime simplicity, in unsurpassable brevity, in beautiful order, and with liturgical solemnity.” In its present form, it is dated no later than the fourth century.

3. Doctrinal Standards as a result of the Reformation to expose the heretical beliefs that had developed in the Catholic Church. (Belgic Confession, Heidelberg Catechism, Canons of Dort, Westminster Confession)

• The Belgic Confession- The Belgic Confession, following the seventeenth-century Latin designation “Confessio Belgica.” “Belgica” referred to the whole of the Netherlands, both north and south, which today is divided into the Netherlands and Belgium. The confession’s chief author was Guido de Bres, a preacher of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, who died a martyr to the faith in the year 1567. During the sixteenth century the churches in this country were exposed to the most terrible persecution by the Roman Catholic government. To protest against this cruel oppression, and to prove to the persecutors that the adherents of the Reformed faith were not rebels, as was laid to their charge, but law-abiding citizens who professed the true Christian doctrine according to the Holy Scriptures, de Bres prepared this confession in the year 1561. In the following year a copy was sent to King Philip II, together with an address in which the petitioners declared that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire,” rather than deny the truth expressed in this confession.

• The Heidelberg Catechism– The Heidelberg Catechism was composed in Heidelberg at the request of Elector Frederick III, who ruled the Palatinate, an influential German province, from 1559 to 1576. An old tradition credits Zacharius Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus with being coauthors of the new catechism. Both were certainly involved in its composition, although one of them may have had primary responsibility. All we know for sure is reported by the Elector in his preface of January 19, 1563. It was, he writes, “with the advice and cooperation of our entire theological faculty in this place, and of all superintendents and distinguished servants of the church” that he secured the preparation of the Heidelberg Catechism. The catechism was approved by a synod in Heidelberg in January 1563. A second and third German edition, each with small additions, as well as a Latin translation, were published the same year in Heidelberg. Soon the catechism was divided into fifty-two sections so that one Lord’s Day could be explained in preaching each Sunday of the year.

• The Canons of Dort- The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands is popularly known as the Canons of Dort. It consists of statements of doctrine adopted by the great Synod of Dort which met in the city of Dordrecht in 1618-19. Although this was a national synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, it had an international character, since it was composed not only of Dutch delegates but also of twenty-six delegates from eight foreign countries.

1. The Westminster Confessions- The Westminster Confession of Faith was the work of the Assembly of divines which was called together by Parliament and met in London, at Westminster Abbey, during the years 1643-1648. It was this Assembly which also produced the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The Confession and the Catechisms are used by many churches as their doctrinal standards, subordinate to the Word of God.

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Outline the sources for the core Christian beliefs?